Resonant optical topological Hall conductivity from skyrmions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the high-frequency Hall conductivity in skyrmion textures, revealing a resonant response linked to Hund's coupling, and proposes optical detection methods for skyrmions.

Contribution

It introduces a resonant Hall response at a specific frequency in skyrmion systems and connects this to skyrmion density, providing a new optical signature for skyrmion detection.

Findings

Resonant Hall response occurs at  J_H.

Linear relation between Hall resonance area and skyrmion density.

Potential for optical skyrmion detection via Kerr microscopy.

Abstract

We study the high frequency Hall conductivity in a two-dimensional (2D) model of conduction electrons coupled to a background magnetic skyrmion texture via an effective Hund's coupling term. For an ordered skyrmion crystal, a Kubo formula calculation using the basis of skyrmion crystal Chern bands reveals a resonant Hall response at a frequency set by the Hund's coupling: $\hbar\omega_{\text{res}} \approx J_H$. A complementary real-space Kubo formula calculation for an isolated skyrmion in a box reveals a similar resonant Hall response. A linear relation between the area under the Hall resonant curve and the skyrmion density is discovered numerically and is further elucidated using a gradient expansion which is valid for smooth textures and a local approximation based on a spin-trimer calculation. We point out the issue of distinguishing this skyrmion contribution from a similar feature arising from spin-orbit interactions, as demonstrated in a model for Rashba spin-orbit coupled electrons in a collinear ferromagnet, which is analogous to the difficulty of unambiguously separating the d.c. topological Hall effect from the anomalous Hall effect. The resonant feature in the high frequency topological Hall effect is proposed to provide a potentially useful local optical signature of skyrmions via probes such as scanning magneto-optical Kerr microscopy.