«The measurements show that
the skyrmions move on a very complex trajectory, a so - called hypo - cycloid,» says Krüger.
GIVE IT A WHIRL
Skyrmions move across magnetic material by sliding from atom to atom.
Not exact matches
By studying
skyrmions, researchers are expanding their understanding of how spins
move through materials.
Although
skyrmions are made up of atoms, which remain stationary within the material,
skyrmions can
move around like a true particle, by sliding from one group of atoms to another.
For
skyrmion - based racetrack memories to compete with current technologies,
skyrmions must be small and
move quickly and easily through a material.
What's more,
skyrmions can easily
move through a material, pushed along by an electric current.
Antiferromagnetic
skyrmions might also
move faster, Kläui says.
Skyrmions don't
move in the same direction as an electric current, but at an angle to it.
This effect will be especially important when one wants to
move a
skyrmion to a selected position as necessary in a future memory device.
The
skyrmions, as these tiny whirls are called after the British nuclear physicist Tony Skyrme, follow a complex trajectory and even continue to
move after the external excitation is switched off.
Skyrmions are stable, can have a diameter of just a few nanometres, and can be
moved efficiently by electrical currents.
Scientists found they could prod these
skyrmions to
move using electric currents, and an idea was born: could we use them to represent 1s and 0s in computer memory?