Magnetic skyrmions are promising for building next-generation magnetic memories and spintronic devices due to their stability, small size and the extremely low currents needed to move them. In particular, skyrmion-based racetrack memory is attractive for information technology, where skyrmions are used to store information as data bits instead of traditional domain walls. Here we numerically demonstrate the impacts of skyrmion-skyrmion and skyrmion-edge repulsions on the feasibility of skyrmion-based racetrack memory. The reliable and practicable spacing between consecutive skyrmionic bits on the racetrack as well as the ability to adjust it are investigated. Clogging of skyrmionic bits is found at the end of the racetrack, leading to the reduction of skyrmion size. Further, we demonstrate an effective and simple method to avoid the clogging of skyrmionic bits, which ensures the elimination of skyrmionic bits beyond the reading element. Our results give guidance for the design and development of future skyrmion-based racetrack memory.

The field of magnetic skyrmions has been actively investigated across a wide range of topics during the last decades. In this topical review, we mainly review and discuss key results and findings in skyrmion research since the first experimental observation of magnetic skyrmions in 2009. We particularly focus on the theoretical, computational and experimental findings and advances that are directly relevant to the spintronic applications based on magnetic skyrmions, i.e. their writing, deleting, reading and processing driven by magnetic field, electric current and thermal energy. We then review several potential applications including information storage, logic computing gates and non-conventional devices such as neuromorphic computing devices. Finally, we discuss possible future research directions on magnetic skyrmions, which also cover rich topics on other topological textures such as antiskyrmions and bimerons in antiferromagnets and frustrated magnets.

Magnetic skyrmions are localized and topologically protected spin configurations, which are of both fundamental and applied interests for future electronics. In this work, we propose a voltage-gated skyrmion transistor within the well-established framework of micromagnetics. Its operating conditions and processes have been theoretically investigated and demonstrated, in which the gate voltage can be used to switch on/off a circuit. Our results provide the first time guidelines for practical realization of hybrid skyrmionic-electronic devices.

Skyrmion-based spin torque nano-oscillators are potential next-generation microwave signal generators. However, ferromagnetic skyrmion-based spin torque nano-oscillators cannot reach high oscillation frequencies. In this work, we propose to use the circular motion of an antiferromagnetic skyrmion to create an oscillation signal in order to overcome this obstacle. Micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the antiferromagnetic skyrmion-based spin torque nano-oscillators can produce high frequencies (tens of GHz). Furthermore, the speed of the circular motion for an antiferromagnetic skyrmion in a nanodisk is analytically derived, which agrees well with the results of numerical simulations. Our findings are useful for the understanding of the inertial dynamics of an antiferromagnetic skyrmion and the development of future skyrmion-based spin torque nano-oscillators.

A magnetic bimeron is a topologically nontrivial spin texture carrying an integer topological charge, which can be regarded as the counterpart of the skyrmion in easy-plane magnets. The controllable creation and manipulation of bimerons are crucial for practical applications based on topological spin textures. Here, we analytically and numerically study the dynamics of an antiferromagnetic bimeron driven by a spin current. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the spin current can create an isolated bimeron in the antiferromagnetic thin film via the dampinglike spin torque. The spin current can also effectively drive the antiferromagnetic bimeron without a transverse drift. The steady motion of an antiferromagnetic bimeron is analytically derived and is in good agreement with the simulation results. Also, we find that the alternating-current-induced motion of the antiferromagnetic bimeron can be described by the Duffing equation due to the presence of the nonlinear boundary-induced force. The associated chaotic behavior of the bimeron is analyzed in terms of the Lyapunov exponents. Our results demonstrate the inertial dynamics of an antiferromagnetic bimeron, and may provide useful guidelines for building future bimeron-based spintronic devices.

Magnetic skyrmions are promising building blocks for next generation data storage due to their stability, small size and extremely low currents to drive them, which can be used instead of traditional magnetic domain walls to store information as data bits in metalic racetrack memories. However, skyrmions can drift from the direction of electron flow due to the Magnus force and thus may annihilate at the racetrack edges, resulting in the loss of information. Here we propose a new skyrmion-based racetrack structure by adding high-K materials (materials with high magnetic crystalline anisotropy) at the edges, which confines the skyrmions in the center region of the metalic racetrack efficiently. This design can overcome both the clogging and annihilation of skyrmions according to our micromagnetic simulation, which occur normally for skyrmions moving on a racetrack under small and large driving currents, respectively. Phase diagrams for skyrmion motion on the proposed racetrack with various values of current density and racetrack edge width have been calculated and given, showing that skyrmions can be driven at a high speed (about 300 m/s) in the racetrack under relatively smaller driving currents. This design offers the possiblity of building an ultrafast and energy-efficient skyrmion transport device.