Magnetic skyrmions have potential applications in novel information devices with excellent energy efficiency. However, the skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) could cause skyrmions moving in a nanotrack to get annihilated at the track edge. In this work, we discovered that the SkHE is depressed by modifying the magnetic structure at the edge of a track, and thus the skyrmion can move in almost a straight line at a high speed. Unlike the inner part of a track with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, the edge layer exhibits in-plane magnetic anisotropy, and the orientation of edge moments is opposite that at the perimeter of skyrmions nearby. As a result, an enhanced repulsive force acts on the skyrmion to oppose the Magnus force that causes the SkHE. Additionally, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) constant of the edge layer also matters. When there is no DMI at the edge layer, the transverse displacement of the skyrmion can be depressed effectively when the width of the edge layer is sufficiently large. However, when the inner part and the edge share the same DMI constant, non-monotonically varied transverse displacement occurs because of the Néel-wall-like structure at the edge layer.
Many concepts for skyrmion-based devices have been proposed, and most of their possible applications are based on the motion of skyrmions driven by a dc current in an area with a constricted geometry. However, skyrmion motion driven by a pulsed current has not been investigated so far. In this work, we propose a skyrmion-based high-frequency signal generator based on the pulsed-current-driven circular motion of skyrmions in a square-shaped film by micromagnetic simulation. The results indicate that skyrmions can move in a closed curve with central symmetry. The trajectory and cycle period can be adjusted by tuning the size of the film, the current density, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction constant, and the local in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The period can be tuned from several nanoseconds to tens of nanoseconds, which offers the possibility to prepare high-frequency signal generator based on skyrmions.
Through principles of spin-valve giant magnetoresistance (SV-GMR) effect and its application in magnetic sensors, we have investigated electric-field control of the output performance of a bridge-structured Co/Cu/NiFe/IrMn SV-GMR sensor on a PZN-PT piezoelectric substrate using the micro-magnetic simulation. We centered on the influence of the variation of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constant (K) of Co on the output of the bridge, and K was manipulated via the stress of Co, which is generated from the strain of a piezoelectric substrate under an electric field. The results indicate that when K varies between 2 × 104 J/m3 and 10 × 104 J/m3, the output performance can be significantly manipulated: The linear range alters from between −330 Oe and 330 Oe to between −650 Oe and 650 Oe, and the sensitivity is tuned by almost 7 times, making it possible to measure magnetic fields with very different ranges. According to the converse piezoelectric effect, we have found that this variation of K can be realized by applying an electric field with the magnitude of about 2–20 kV/cm on a PZN-PT piezoelectric substrate, which is realistic in application. This result means that electric-control of SV-GMR effect has potential application in developing SV-GMR sensors with improved performance.
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