Interactions between atomic-scale skyrmions in 2D chiral magnets

Abstract

To commercialize stable, highly-integrated, and low-power-consuming magnetic memories of skyrmions, stable control of their motion is crucial. Manipulating the inter-skyrmion interactions is key to achieving this goal. We find that distortion of the skyrmion shape can induce the interskyrmion attraction between atomic-scale small skyrmions, similar to larger skyrmions. Also, the interaction of smaller skyrmions reaches further, when scaled by the skyrmion size, than that of larger skyrmions. The continuum model is still capable of explaining the behavior. Moreover, the formation of the magnetic domains between skyrmions also induces attraction, which is again the same mechanism as larger skyrmions. This study contributes to better control of the skyrmion motion with a wide range of their sizes.