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Topological spin Hall effect in antiferromagnetic skyrmions (Phys. Status Solidi RRL 4/2017)
Author(s) -
Buhl Patrick M.,
Freimuth Frank,
Blügel Stefan,
Mokrousov Yuriy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201770320
Subject(s) - skyrmion , antiferromagnetism , spintronics , spin (aerodynamics) , condensed matter physics , physics , hall effect , field (mathematics) , topology (electrical circuits) , magnetic field , quantum mechanics , mathematics , ferromagnetism , combinatorics , pure mathematics , thermodynamics
Despite drastic advances in the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics, the observation of chiral antiferromagnetic skyrmions has not been achieved so far. Buhl et al. (article no. 1700007 ) demonstrate that one of the key features of antiferromagnetic skyrmions is the emergence of a transverse spin current when an external electric field is applied. By employing a density functional theory based framework to quantify this spin current in skyrmion lattices based on transitionmetal synthetic antiferromagnets such as Fe/Cu/Fe trilayers, the authors reveal the sizable magnitude of the “topological” spin Hall effect which can be observed experimentally in this type of systems. Buhl et al. show that the topological spin Hall effect is extremely sensitive to the electronic structure parameters and can be engineered according to the desired spin current properties. By following the real‐space real‐time evolution of wavepackets in antiferromagnetic skyrmions the authors disclose the complicated spin evolution of propagating electrons (one example trajectory is depicted in the frame of the staggered order parameter). This discovery opens new vistas for the detection and verification of antiferromagnetic skyrmions as well as for generation of sizable spin currents in transitionmetal heterostructures.