Skyrmions Could Revolutionize Data Storage and Processing: New Insights into Their Motion

• Ene 4, 2025 - 13:19

Tiny magnetic whirlpools, known as skyrmions, are poised to significantly impact the future of data storage and processing, thanks to their resistance to noise and potential for use in low-power devices. Researchers at RIKEN have made a breakthrough by developing a simple and intuitive model to visualize the complex motions of skyrmions, boosting the development of skyrmion-based technologies.

Electrons possess not only mass and electric charge but also spin, a form of intrinsic angular momentum. In certain crystalline materials, electrons align their spins in unique patterns. A skyrmion is a notable example where the spin at the center points upward, while the surrounding spins gradually twist and point downward, forming a magnetic vortex.

As electrons move through a skyrmion lattice, their path is influenced by the net magnetic field created by the skyrmions, a phenomenon known as the topological Hall effect. However, this electron flow also causes the skyrmion lattice to shift, resulting in the creation of an emergent electric field.

Given the intricate interactions at play, Max Birch and his team at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science set out to explore what happens to the topological Hall effect when the skyrmion lattice moves. They selected the compound gadolinium palladium silicide (Gd2PdSi3) for its unusually large topological Hall effect, almost 100 times greater than that of similar materials. The small size of their samples made it easier to apply the high currents needed to observe skyrmion motion on a micrometer scale.

The researchers found that the motion of the skyrmion lattice completely cancels out the topological Hall effect. Their findings, published in Nature, revealed that the topological Hall effect is directly proportional to the velocity of the electrons relative to the skyrmions. When the skyrmions reach the same velocity as the electrons, the effect vanishes, as it is entirely neutralized by the emergent electric field generated.

Birch explains, "When the electrons and skyrmions move at the same speed, their relative velocity becomes zero, and there is no topological Hall effect."

Ironically, while skyrmions hold great promise for future devices, this phenomenon can be described using equations developed over 150 years ago. Birch notes, "We've shown that the topological effects can be expressed analogously to Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism."

This new perspective on skyrmion dynamics is expected to be crucial for advancing spintronic devices, which could form the foundation for more efficient and powerful computing technologies.

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