Topological, non-topological and instanton droplets driven by spin-transfer torque in materials with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction

Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 9:5:16184. doi: 10.1038/srep16184.

Abstract

The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction can modify the topology of droplets excited by a localized spin-polarized current. Here, we show that, in addition to the stationary droplet excitations with skyrmion number either one (topological) or zero (non-topological), there exists, for a fixed current, an excited mode with a non-stationary time behavior. We call this mode "instanton droplet", which is characterized by time domain transitions of the skyrmion number. These transitions are coupled to an emission of incoherent spin-waves that can be observed in the frequency domain as a source of noise. Our results are interesting from a fundamental point of view to study spin-wave emissions due to a topological transition in current-driven systems, and could open the route for experiments based on magnetoresistance effect for the design of a further generation of nanoscale microwave oscillators.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't