Mesoscale phase separation of skyrmion-vortex matter in chiral magnet-superconductor heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper theoretically explores how magnetic skyrmions and superconducting vortices interact in a bilayer system, revealing diverse mesoscale patterns and the ability to thermally tune phase states.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for understanding mesoscale phase separation in skyrmion-vortex systems and identifies conditions for pattern formation and thermal tuning.

Findings

Diverse mesoscale patterns such as gel, stripes, and clusters form at strong coupling.

Phase separation occurs at a specific wave number, breaking down miscibility.

Thermal tuning enables switching between homogeneous and modulated phases.

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the equilibrium configurations of many magnetic skyrmions interacting with many superconducting vortices in a superconductor-chiral magnet bilayer. We show that miscible mixtures of vortices and skyrmions in this system breaks down at a particular wave number for sufficiently strong coupling, giving place to remarkably diverse mesoscale patterns: gel, stripes, clusters, intercalated stripes and composite gel-cluster structures. We also demonstrate that, by appropriate choice of parameters, one can thermally tune between the homogeneous and density-modulated phases.