Diameter-independent skyrmion Hall angle observed in chiral magnetic multilayers

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically non-trivial nanoscale objects. Their topology, which originates in their chiral domain wall winding, governs their unique response to a motion-inducing force. When subjected to an electrical current, the chiral winding of the spin texture leads to a deflection of the skyrmion trajectory, characterised by an angle with respect to the applied force direction. This skyrmion Hall angle is predicted to be skyrmion diameter-dependent. In contrast, our experimental study finds that the skyrmion Hall angle is diameter-independent for skyrmions with diameters ranging from 35 to 825 nm. At an average velocity of 6 ± 1 ms−1, the average skyrmion Hall angle was measured to be 9° ± 2°. In fact, the skyrmion dynamics is dominated by the local energy landscape such as materials defects and the local magnetic configuration. Magnetic skyrmions are promising objects for future spintronic devices. However, a better understanding of their dynamics is required. Here, the authors show that in contrast to predictions the skyrmion Hall angle is independent of their diameter and motion is dominated by disorder and skyrmion-skyrmion interactions in the system.