Engineering topics

Andreoli, Domenico

Publications and source records attributed to Andreoli, Domenico.

3 records

DOE OSTI2021

Electronic scattering off a magnetic hopfion

We study scattering of itinerant electrons off a magnetic hopfion in a three-dimensional metallic magnet described by a magnetization vector S(r). A hopfion is a confined topological soliton of S(r) characterized by an emergent magnetic field Bγ(r)≡ε αβγ S∙(∇ α S×∇ β S)/4≠0 with vanishing average value [B(r)]=0. We evaluate the scattering amplitude in the opposite limits of large and small hopfion radius R using the eikonal and Born approximations, respectively. In both limits, we find that the scattering cross section contains a skew-scattering component giving rise to the Hall effect within a hopfion plane. That conclusion contests the popular notion that the Hall effect in noncollinear magnetic structures necessarily implies [B(r)]≠0. In the limit of small hopfion radius pR<<1, we expand the Born series in powers of momentum p and identify different expansion terms corresponding to the hopfion anisotropy, toroidal moment, and skew scattering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Topological Hall effect in magnetic topological insulator films

Geometric Berry phase can be induced either by spin–orbit coupling, giving rise to the anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic materials, or by chiral spin texture, such as skyrmions, leading to the topological Hall effect. Recent experiments have revealed that both phenomena can occur in topological insulator films with magnetic doping, thus providing us with an intriguing platform to study the interplay between these two phenomena. In this work, we report on a numerical simulation of the anomalous Hall and topological Hall effects in a four-band model that can properly describe the quantum well states in the magnetic topological insulator films by combining Landauer–Büttiker formula and the iterative Green’s function method. Our numerical results suggest that spin–orbit coupling in this model plays a different role in the quantum transport in the clean and disordered limits. In the clean limit, spin–orbit coupling mainly influences the longitudinal transport but does not have much effect on topological Hall conductance. In the disordered limit, the longitudinal transport is determined by disorder scattering and spin–orbit coupling is found to affect strongly the topological Hall conductance. Here, this sharp contrast unveils a dramatic interplay between spin–orbit coupling and disorder effect in topological Hall effect in magnetic topological insulator systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2020

Concurrence of quantum anomalous Hall and topological Hall effects in magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is a consequence of non-zero Berry curvature in momentum space. The QAH insulator harbours dissipation-free chiral edge states in the absence of an external magnetic field. Yet, the topological Hall (TH) effect, a hallmark of chiral spin textures, is a consequence of real-space Berry curvature. Herein, by inserting a topological insulator (TI) layer between two magnetic TI layers, we realized the concurrence of the TH effect and the QAH effect through electric-field gating. The TH effect is probed by bulk carriers, whereas the QAH effect is characterized by chiral edge states. The appearance of the TH effect in the QAH insulating regime is a consequence of chiral magnetic domain walls that result from the gate-induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and occurs during the magnetization reversal process in the magnetic TI sandwich samples. The coexistence of chiral edge states and chiral spin textures provides a platform for proof-of-concept dis- sipationless spin-textured spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗