Optically Controlled Skyrmion Number Current

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to control magnetic Skyrmions using optically induced Skyrmion number currents, revealing a topological mechanism for efficient Skyrmion manipulation with potential low-dissipation advantages.

Contribution

It presents a novel theoretical framework for optically controlling Skyrmion motion via Skyrmion number currents using a time-dependent Hamiltonian and perturbation analysis.

Findings

Optically induced Skyrmion number current generated by boundary deformation.

Limit cycle dynamics depend on magnetic field, exchange coupling, and damping.

Topological origin of Skyrmion motion clarified.

Abstract

We propose a mechanism to control the motion of magnetic Skyrmions through the generation of a Skyrmion number current. This current is induced and tuned by an explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonian that includes a Zeeman term arising from the interaction between the spin system and circularly polarized light. To capture the effect, we apply a first-order perturbation method to the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, using a breathing Skyrmion ansatz based on the Belavin-Polyakov profile. This approach reveals that the time-dependent deformation of the Skyrmion boundary produces an anisotropic breathing mode, which in turn generates a nonzero Skyrmion number current. The resulting dynamics in momentum space form a limit cycle, whose characteristics depend on the external magnetic field amplitude, the Heisenberg exchange coupling, and the Gilbert damping constant. Our formulation not only clarifies the topological origin of optically driven Skyrmion motion but also points to Skyrmion number currents as a low-dissipation alternative to electric currents for efficient Skyrmion control.