Stability of Neel skyrmions in ultra-thin nanodots considering Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and dipolar interactions

Abstract

An analytical expression for the energy of N\'eel skyrmions in ultra-thin nanodots considering exchange, uniaxial anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya, and dipolar contributions has been obtained. In particular, we have proposed for the N\'eel skyrmion, a general ansatz for the component of the magnetization perpendicular to the dot, given by $m_z(r) = [1-(r/R_s)^n]/[1 + (r/R_s)^n]$, where $R_s$ is the radius of the skyrmion and $n$ is an integer and even number. As proof of concept, we calculate the energy of a N\'eel skyrmion in an ultra-thin Co/Pt dot, and we find that the dipolar contribution cannot be neglected and that both Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and anisotropy play an important role to stabilize the skyrmion. Additionally, we have obtained a good agreement between our analytical calculations and previously published micromagnetic simulations for $n = 10$. For this reliable value of $n$, we have obtained that for a Dzyaloshinski Moriya constant $D = 5.5 \, (mJ/m^2)$, it is possible to stabilize a N\'eel skyrmion for $K_u$ in the range, $0.4 \, (MJ/m^3)< K_u <1.3 \, (MJ/m^3)$, whereas for $K_u = 0.8 \, (MJ/m^3)$, the skyrmion stabilizes for $5.0 \, (mJ/m^2) < D <6.0 \, (mJ/m^2) $. Thus, this analytical equation can be widely used to predict stability ranges for the N\'eel skyrmion in spintronic devices.