Energy Storage via Topological Spin Textures

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel energy storage method using metastable magnetic configurations and topological spin textures, enabling nonvolatile, durable energy retention in insulating magnetic materials.

Contribution

It introduces a topological spin texture-based energy storage concept, leveraging magnetic metastability and electrical injection of winding numbers for durable energy retention.

Findings

Energy stored in metastable winding number.

Electrical injection of spin textures is feasible.

Energy storage is nonvolatile and enduring.

Abstract

We formulate an energy-storage concept based on the free energy associated with metastable magnetic configurations. Despite the active, magnetic region of the battery being electrically insulating, it can sustain effective hydrodynamics of spin textures, whose conservation law is governed by topology. To illustrate the key physics and potential functionality, we focus here on the simplest quasi-one-dimensional case of planar winding of the magnetic order parameter. The energy is stored in the metastable winding number, which can be injected electrically by an appropriately tailored spin torque. Due to the nonvolatility and the endurance of magnetic systems, the injected energy can be stored essentially indefinitely, with charging/discharging cycles that do not degrade over time.