Phononic Skyrmions

TL;DR

This paper introduces phononic skyrmions, topological elastic wave structures that operate at room temperature with high robustness and ultra-broad bandwidth, enabling advanced high-speed, topological information processing technologies.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the creation and experimental validation of phononic skyrmions in solid structures at room temperature, overcoming limitations of magnetic skyrmions.

Findings

Existence of phononic skyrmions formed by elastic waves.

Ultra-broadband and tunable spin configurations.

Robustness against defects and structural disorder.

Abstract

Skyrmions with topologically stable configurations have shown a promising route toward magnetic and photonic materials for information processing due to their defect-immune and low-driven energy. However, the practical application of magnetic skyrmions is severely hindered by their harsh cryogenic environment and complex carriers. In addition, the narrowband nature of magnetic and photonic skyrmions leads to lower data rate transmissions, restricting the development of high-speed information processing technologies. Here, we introduce and demonstrate the concept of phononic skyrmion as new topological structures to break the above barriers. The phononic skyrmion can be produced in any solid structure at room temperature, including chip-scale structures, with high robustness and ultra-bandwidth, which could pave a new path for high-speed and topological information processing technologies. We experimentally demonstrate the existence of phononic skyrmion formed by breaking the rotational symmetry of the three-dimensional hybrid spin of elastic waves. The frequency-independent spin configuration leads to the remarkable ultra-broadband and tunable feature of phononic skyrmions. We further experimentally show the excellent robustness of the flexibly movable phononic skyrmion lattices against local defects of disorder, sharp corners, and even rectangular holes. Our research also opens a vibrant horizon towards an unprecedented way for elastic wave manipulation and structuration by spin configuration, and offers a promising lever for alternative phononic technologies, including quantum information, biomedical testing, and wave engineering.