Omnidirectionally manipulated skyrmions in an orientationally chiral system

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to control the movement of skyrmions in a chiral liquid crystal system using an electric field, enabling continuous adjustment of their direction and speed for potential applications in light steering and memory devices.

Contribution

It introduces a method to manipulate skyrmion motion omnidirectionally in liquid crystals by electric field bias, leveraging symmetry breaking from flexoelectric effects.

Findings

Skyrmion velocity and direction can be continuously tuned.

Electric field bias controls skyrmion motion.

Omnidirectional control enables new device applications.

Abstract

Skyrmions, originally from condensed matter physics, have been widely explored in various physical systems, including soft matter. A crucial challenge in manipulating topological solitary waves like skyrmions is controlling their flow on demand. Here, we control the arbitrary moving direction of skyrmions in a chiral liquid crystal system by adjusting the bias of the applied alternate current electric field. Specifically, the velocity, including both moving direction and speed can be continuously changed. The motion control of skyrmions originates from the symmetry breaking of the topological structure induced by flexoelectric-polarization effect. The omnidirectional control of topological solitons opens new avenues in light-steering and racetrack memories.