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Machine-learning-based detection of spin structures

Machine-learning-based detection of spin structures
Machine-learning-based detection of spin structures
One of the most important magnetic spin structures is the topologically stabilized skyrmion quasiparticle. Its interesting physical properties make it a candidate for memory and efficient neuromorphic computation schemes. For device operation, the detection of the position, shape, and size of skyrmions is required and magnetic imaging is typically employed. A frequently used technique is magneto-optical Kerr microscopy, in which, depending on the sample’s material composition, temperature, material growing procedures, etc., the measurements suffer from noise, low contrast, intensity gradients, or other optical artifacts. Conventional image analysis packages require manual treatment, and a more automatic solution is required. We report a convolutional neural network specifically designed for segmentation problems to detect the position and shape of skyrmions in our measurements. The network is tuned using selected techniques to optimize predictions and, in particular, the number of detected classes is found to govern the performance. The results of this study show that a well-trained network is a viable method of automating data preprocessing in magnetic microscopy. The approach is easily extendable to other spin structures and other magnetic imaging methods.
1809-8363
Labrie-Boulay, Isaac
19722c16-af89-430a-b3a2-684e4b8b1294
Winkler, Thomas Brian
4d2a7a48-8c12-49d2-a319-07d2d1d29604
Franzen, Daniel
b0f3e25f-6728-4fba-88c7-1484063fdd16
Romanova, Alena
092ab705-2641-402e-8cb6-3e850b6bfeec
Fangohr, Hans
9b7cfab9-d5dc-45dc-947c-2eba5c81a160
Kläui, Mathias
2db8fdbd-c447-4ae6-88b3-5eaa6ea338ae
Labrie-Boulay, Isaac
19722c16-af89-430a-b3a2-684e4b8b1294
Winkler, Thomas Brian
4d2a7a48-8c12-49d2-a319-07d2d1d29604
Franzen, Daniel
b0f3e25f-6728-4fba-88c7-1484063fdd16
Romanova, Alena
092ab705-2641-402e-8cb6-3e850b6bfeec
Fangohr, Hans
9b7cfab9-d5dc-45dc-947c-2eba5c81a160
Kläui, Mathias
2db8fdbd-c447-4ae6-88b3-5eaa6ea338ae

Labrie-Boulay, Isaac, Winkler, Thomas Brian, Franzen, Daniel, Romanova, Alena, Fangohr, Hans and Kläui, Mathias (2024) Machine-learning-based detection of spin structures. APS Physics, 21, [014014]. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.21.014014).

Record type: Article

Abstract

One of the most important magnetic spin structures is the topologically stabilized skyrmion quasiparticle. Its interesting physical properties make it a candidate for memory and efficient neuromorphic computation schemes. For device operation, the detection of the position, shape, and size of skyrmions is required and magnetic imaging is typically employed. A frequently used technique is magneto-optical Kerr microscopy, in which, depending on the sample’s material composition, temperature, material growing procedures, etc., the measurements suffer from noise, low contrast, intensity gradients, or other optical artifacts. Conventional image analysis packages require manual treatment, and a more automatic solution is required. We report a convolutional neural network specifically designed for segmentation problems to detect the position and shape of skyrmions in our measurements. The network is tuned using selected techniques to optimize predictions and, in particular, the number of detected classes is found to govern the performance. The results of this study show that a well-trained network is a viable method of automating data preprocessing in magnetic microscopy. The approach is easily extendable to other spin structures and other magnetic imaging methods.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 16 November 2023
Published date: 10 January 2024

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 507774
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507774
ISSN: 1809-8363
PURE UUID: 5b7a3ba3-4070-468e-920b-70c4fed69676
ORCID for Hans Fangohr: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5494-7193

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Date deposited: 06 Jan 2026 17:42
Last modified: 08 Jan 2026 02:37

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Contributors

Author: Isaac Labrie-Boulay
Author: Thomas Brian Winkler
Author: Daniel Franzen
Author: Alena Romanova
Author: Hans Fangohr ORCID iD
Author: Mathias Kläui

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