Topological spin textures in 2D magnets

Session Information

Location: amf. P7 | "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iași (TUIAȘI)
Day: 3. Wednesday 17
Time: 11:30-12:30
Chairperson: Paul Gavriloaea

Presentation Details

Presentation Type: Oral presentation
Title: Topological spin textures in 2D magnets
Abstract: Topological spin textures in two-dimensional magnets have emerged as a promising route toward nanoscale information storage and ultrafast spintronic functionality. In particular, light-driven control of magnetic order offers an appealing strategy for creating and manipulating nontrivial spin configurations on femtosecond to picosecond timescales. This work focuses on the generation of topological spin textures in the 2D van der Waals magnets, CrCl₃ and Fe3GeTe2. Using atomistic spin dynamics combined with a two-temperature model of laser-induced heating, our study demonstrates that optical pulses can drive the magnetic system out-of-equilibrium and induce vortex-like magnetic textures, such as merons and antimerons. These structures are identified by computing the topological number and arise in CrCl₃ without Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions. Beyond their formation, the laser-induced textures display rich dynamical behavior, including vortex–antivortex creation, motion and annihilation, all of which contribute to abrupt changes in the total topological number.
We also consider Fe3GeTe2, an out-of-plane van der Waals ferromagnet for the study of nontrivial magnetic textures such as skyrmions, stabilised by Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions. Its strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, relatively high Curie temperature compared with many other 2D magnets and metallic character make it especially attractive for spintronic applications. These properties can favour the stabilisation, electrical detection, and possible manipulation of skyrmion-like states, while also enabling stronger coupling between magnetic textures and charge transport. Our findings position 2D magnets as attractive platforms for exploring light-controlled topological spin phenomena and for developing future low-power, ultrafast devices based on nanoscale magnetic textures.

References:
Strungaru, M., Augustin, M., & Santos, E. J. (2022) npj Computational Materials, 8(1), 169.
Macy, Juan, et al., Applied Physics Reviews 8.4 (2021).
Olleros-Rodríguez, Pablo, et al., Nanoscale 14.42 (2022): 15701-15712.
Wang, Junlin, et al. Physical Review B 104.5 (2021): 054420.

Presenter

Dr Mara Strungaru
University of Manchester | United Kingdom

Authors

1. Strungaru, Mara | Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
2. Augustin, Mathias | Institute for Condensed Matter Physics and Complex Systems, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
3. Santos, Elton J. G. | Institute for Condensed Matter Physics and Complex Systems, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK