Chirality inversion and radius blow-up of a Néel-type skyrmion by a Pearl vortex

Abstract

We develop a theory for the coaxial configuration of a Néel-type skyrmion and a Pearl vortex in thin superconductor-chiral ferromagnetic heterostructures. Using direct numerical solution of the Euler-Lagrange equation and micromagnetic simulations we demonstrate that the inhomogeneous magnetic field of the Pearl vortex significantly modifies the skyrmion profile with respect to the one in the absence of the vortex. We discover drastic enlargement of the skyrmion's radius and inversion of the skyrmion's chirality. To unravel physics behind these effects we invent novel two-parameter ansatz for the magnetization profile of the skyrmion in the presence of the vortex. Chirality inversion and radius blow-up are controlled not only by the material parameters of the heterostructure but also by the thickness of the superconductor. Our findings can have implications for Majorana modes localized at skyrmion-vortex pairs.

6 pages, 2 figures; 1 video file and its description (as ancillary files)

References in corpus (10)

• Additive interfacial chiral interaction in multilayers for stabilization of small individual skyrmion at room temperature
• Creep and flow regimes of magnetic domain wall motion in ultrathin Pt/Co/Pt films with perpendicular anisotropy
• Skyrmion-(Anti)Vortex Coupling in a Chiral Magnet-Superconductor Heterostructure
• Steering Majorana braiding via skyrmion-vortex pairs: a scalable platform
• Interaction of a Neel-type skyrmion and a superconducting vortex
• Aspects of topological superconductivity in 2D systems: noncollinear magnetism, skyrmions, and higher-order topology
• Skyrmion-induced subgap states in p-wave superconductors
• Mesoscale phase separation of skyrmion-vortex matter in chiral magnet-superconductor heterostructures
• Repulsion of a Néel-type skyrmion from a Pearl vortex in thin ferromagnet-superconductor heterostructures
• Effective interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and skyrmion stabilization in ferromagnet/paramagnet and ferromagnet/superconductor hybrid systems

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Colloquium: Quantum Properties and Functionalities of Magnetic Skyrmions
• Visualization of Skyrmion-Superconducting Vortex Pairs in a Chiral-Magnet-Superconductor Heterostructure
• Deformation of a Néel-type Skyrmion in a Weak Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field: Magnetization Ansatz and Interaction with a Pearl Vortex