Relativistic kinematics of a magnetic soliton.
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Caretta L; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.; Oh SH; Department of Nano-Semiconductor and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.; Fakhrul T; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.; Lee DK; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.; Lee BH; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.; Kim SK; Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea.; Ross CA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.; Lee KJ; Department of Nano-Semiconductor and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.; Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea.; KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.; Beach GSD; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. gbeach@mit.edu.
- Source
- Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0404511 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1095-9203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00368075 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Science Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE; MEDLINE
- Subject
- Language
- English
A tenet of special relativity is that no particle can exceed the speed of light. In certain magnetic materials, the maximum magnon group velocity serves as an analogous relativistic limit for the speed of magnetic solitons. Here, we drive domain walls to this limit in a low-dissipation magnetic insulator using pure spin currents from the spin Hall effect. We achieve record current-driven velocities in excess of 4300 meters per second-within ~10% of the relativistic limit-and we observe key signatures of relativistic motion associated with Lorentz contraction, which leads to velocity saturation. The experimental results are well explained through analytical and atomistic modeling. These observations provide critical insight into the fundamental limits of the dynamics of magnetic solitons and establish a readily accessible experimental framework to study relativistic solitonic physics.
(Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)