Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy
We study the diffusive motion of metastable localized spin structures with various topological charges by combining atomistic spin model simulations with an extension to the Thiele equation taking into account translational and rotational degrees of freedom. The Brownian motion of skyrmions is shown...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abc1c9 |
| _version_ | 1827872973012336640 |
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| author | M Weißenhofer U Nowak |
| author_facet | M Weißenhofer U Nowak |
| author_sort | M Weißenhofer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study the diffusive motion of metastable localized spin structures with various topological charges by combining atomistic spin model simulations with an extension to the Thiele equation taking into account translational and rotational degrees of freedom. The Brownian motion of skyrmions is shown to obey markedly different diffusion laws depending on their topological properties. We demonstrate that skyrmions with topological charges Q = −1 and Q = 0 exhibit anisotropic translational diffusion due to their non-circular shape. The coupling between rotational and translational Brownian motion, however, causes memory of the initial orientation to be lost on a timescale governed by the effective rotational diffusion coefficient, ultimately leading to isotropic diffusion in the long time limit. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:31:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd1a9612476745bc9bd04c159ea7ddbd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:31:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd1a9612476745bc9bd04c159ea7ddbd2023-08-08T15:31:40ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302020-01-01221010305910.1088/1367-2630/abc1c9Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropyM Weißenhofer0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3283-2560U Nowak1Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz , DE-78457 Konstanz, GermanyFachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz , DE-78457 Konstanz, GermanyWe study the diffusive motion of metastable localized spin structures with various topological charges by combining atomistic spin model simulations with an extension to the Thiele equation taking into account translational and rotational degrees of freedom. The Brownian motion of skyrmions is shown to obey markedly different diffusion laws depending on their topological properties. We demonstrate that skyrmions with topological charges Q = −1 and Q = 0 exhibit anisotropic translational diffusion due to their non-circular shape. The coupling between rotational and translational Brownian motion, however, causes memory of the initial orientation to be lost on a timescale governed by the effective rotational diffusion coefficient, ultimately leading to isotropic diffusion in the long time limit.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abc1c9magnetic skyrmionsBrownian motiontopological chargeanisotropyatomistic spin simulations |
| spellingShingle | M Weißenhofer U Nowak Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy New Journal of Physics magnetic skyrmions Brownian motion topological charge anisotropy atomistic spin simulations |
| title | Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy |
| title_full | Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy |
| title_fullStr | Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy |
| title_short | Diffusion of skyrmions: the role of topology and anisotropy |
| title_sort | diffusion of skyrmions the role of topology and anisotropy |
| topic | magnetic skyrmions Brownian motion topological charge anisotropy atomistic spin simulations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abc1c9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mweißenhofer diffusionofskyrmionstheroleoftopologyandanisotropy AT unowak diffusionofskyrmionstheroleoftopologyandanisotropy |