Interaction of in-plane magnetic skyrmions with 90$^\circ$ magnetic domain walls: micromagnetic simulations

TL;DR

This paper uses micromagnetic simulations to study how Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction affects in-plane magnetic skyrmions interacting with 90° domain walls, proposing a skyrmion valve concept.

Contribution

It reveals the role of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in inducing out-of-plane magnetization, influencing skyrmion transport through domain walls, and introduces a new skyrmion valve concept.

Findings

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction induces out-of-plane magnetization.

Out-of-plane magnetization is crucial for skyrmion transport.

Proposes a skyrmion valve based on pinned domain walls.

Abstract

$90^\circ$ pinned magnetic domain walls can be observed in thin magnetic layers attached to a ferroelectric substrate. The main stabilization mechanism of the noncollinear magnetic texture is the strain transfer which is responsible for imprinting of the ferroelectic domains into the uniaxial anisotropy of the ferromagnet. Here, we investigate by means of micromagnetic simulations how the interfacial Dzyaloshinkii-Moriya interaction influences the $90^\circ$ domain wall structure. It is shown that Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction induces a large out-of-plane magnetization component, strongly dependent on the domain wall type. In particular, it is shown that this out-of-plane magnetization component is crucial for the transport of the in-plane magnetic skyrmions, also known as bimerons, through the magnetic domain walls. Based on the results of micromagnetic simulations, a concept of in-plane magnetic skyrmion valve based on two $90^\circ$ pinned magnetic domain walls is introduced.