Microwave field frequency and current density modulated skyrmion-chain in nanotrack

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are promising candidates as information carriers for the next-generation spintronic devices because of their small size, facile current-driven motion and topological stability. The controllable nucleation and motion of skyrmions in magnetic nanostructures will be essential in future skyrmionic devices. Here, we present the microwave assisted nucleation and motion of skyrmion-chains in magnetic nanotrack by micromagnetic simulation. A skyrmion-chain is a one-dimensional cluster of equally spaced skyrmions. A skyrmion-chain conveys an integer bit n when it consists of n skyrmions. A series of skyrmion-chains with various lengths is generated and moved in the nanotrack driven by spin-polarized current. The period, length and spacing of the skyrmion-chains can be dynamically manipulated by controlling either the frequency of the microwave field or the time dependent spin-polarized current density. A skyrmion-chain behaves as a massless particle, where it stops without delay when the current is stopped. Their velocity is found to be linearly dependent on the current density and insensitive to the frequency and amplitude of the excitation microwave field. Uniform motion of trains of skyrmion-chains in nanotrack offers a promising approach for spintronic multi-bit memories containing series of skyrmion-chains to represent data stream.