SPICE Workshop on Spin textures: Magnetism meets Plasmonics, July 23rd - 25th 2024
Kai Litzius
Kai Litzius1, Jason Bartell2, Lisa-Marie Kern3, Shiyu Zhou4, Daniel Suzuki2, Pooja Reddy2, Felix Steinbach3, Bastian Pfau3, Clemens von Korff Schmising3, Stefan Eisebitt3,5, Geoffrey Beach2, Felix Büttner1,6, and Lucas Caretta4
1University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
2Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
3Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany
4Brown University, Providence, USA
5Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
6Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
In the pursuit of advancing applications in memory and logic, the investigation into noncolinear spin textures, specifically domain walls and skyrmions, has emerged as a promising avenue of research. While current-driven devices show potential, their practical implementation in multidimensional motion remains challenging, requiring intricate fabrication, complex electrical contacts, and a deeper understanding of spin texture dynamics in multidimensional space.
This study addresses these challenges through an exploration of the displacement of chiral solitons in ferrimagnetic Pt/GdCo/Ta films, utilizing ultrafast laser pulses to enable motion over arbitrary distances and directions. The central focus is on understanding the role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in ensuring reproducible ultra-fast domain wall motion, thereby preventing destabilization and domain randomization induced by precessional dynamics.
A notable result of our work is the influence of a negative temperature derivative of the domain wall energy, attributed to a laser-induced transient thermal gradient in our ferrimagnetic samples. This observation underscores the importance of the compensation point for light-induced effects in these materials. Micromagnetic simulations further emphasize the critical role of DMI in facilitating coherent and reproducible domain wall motion, overcoming the challenges posed by the precessional breakdown of the domain walls. We thus achieve the demonstration of an all-optical magnetic soliton motion, showcasing the controlled displacement of chiral domain walls and skyrmions in arbitrary directions. By stabilizing domain wall structures, DMI enables the light-induced propagation of solitons, highlighting its critical role for innovative applications in the realms of memory and logic. In essence, our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of spin texture dynamics in multidimensional space, opening new avenues for the advancement of spintronics.
References:
- L. Caretta et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 13, 1154–1160 (2018).
- J. Gorchon et al. Phys. Rev. B 94, 184406 (2016).
- Y. Quessab et al. Phys. Rev. B 97, 054419 (2018).