Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
A mechanism to pin skyrmions in chiral magnets
1Zhejiang Institute of Modern Physics and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People's Republic of China. yhliu@zju.edu.cn
Abstract:
We propose a mechanism to pin skyrmions in chiral magnetic thin films by introducing local maxima of magnetic exchange strength as pinning centers. The local maxima can be realized by engineering the local density of itinerant electrons. The stationary properties and the dynamical pinning and depinning processes of an isolated skyrmion around a pinning center are studied. We carry out numerical simulations of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation and find a way to control the position of an isolated skyrmion in a pinning center lattice using electric current pulses. The results are verified by a Thiele equation analysis. We also find that the critical current to depin a skyrmion, which is estimated to have order of magnitude 10(7)-10(8) A m(-2), has linear dependence on the pinning strength.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Chirality in Nature
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
Attachment of Sister Chromatids
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Magnetic Moment
