Physical Review Research (Jul 2020)

Tunable terahertz oscillation arising from Bloch-point dynamics in chiral magnets

  • Yu Li,
  • Leonardo Pierobon,
  • Michalis Charilaou,
  • Hans-Benjamin Braun,
  • Niels R. Walet,
  • Jörg F. Löffler,
  • James J. Miles,
  • Christoforos Moutafis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033006
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 3
p. 033006

Abstract

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Skyrmionic textures are being extensively investigated due to the occurrence of novel topological magnetic phenomena, and their promising applications in a new generation of spintronic devices take advantage of the robust topological stability of their spin structures. The development of practical devices relies on a detailed understanding of how skyrmionic structures can be formed, transferred, detected, and annihilated. In this work our considerations go beyond static skyrmions and theoretically show that the formation/annihilation of both skyrmions and antiskyrmions is enabled by the transient creation and propagation of topological singularities (magnetic monopolelike Bloch points). Critically, our results predict that during the winding/unwinding of skyrmionic textures, the Bloch-point propagation will give rise to an emergent electric field with a substantial amplitude and in the terahertz frequency range. We also demonstrate ways for controlling Bloch-point dynamics, which directly enable the tunablility on generation of this signal, as well as its frequency and amplitude. Our studies provide a concept of directly exploiting topological singularities for terahertz skyrmion-based electronic devices.