Tailoring the energy landscape of a bloch point domain wall with curvature
Topological defects, or singularities, play a key role in the statics and dynamics of complex systems. In magnetism, Bloch point singularities represent point defects that mediate the nucleation of textures such as skyrmions and hopfions. While these textures are typically stabilised in chiral magnets, the influence of chirality and symmetry breaking on Bloch point singularities remains relatively unexplored. Here, we harness advanced three-dimensional nanofabrication to explore the influence of symmetry breaking on Bloch point textures by introducing controlled nano-curvature in a ferromagnetic nanowire. Combining X-ray magnetic microscopy with the application of in situ magnetic fields, we demonstrate that Bloch point singularity-containing domain walls are stabilised in straight regions of the sample, and determine that curvature can be used to tune the energy landscape of the Bloch points. Not only are we able to pattern pinning points but, by controlling the gradient of curvature, we define asymmetric potential wells to realise a robust Bloch point texture shift-register with non-reciprocal behaviour. These insights into the influence of symmetry on singularities offer a route to the controlled nucleation and propagation of topological textures, providing opportunities for logic and computing devices.
Authors
- Amalio Fernández‐Pacheco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3862-8472)
- A. Hierro‐Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6600-7801)
- Michael H Foerster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4147-6668)
- Sebastian Seifert
- Anna Mandziak
- Claas Abert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4999-0311)
- D. Wilgocka‐Ślęzak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9758-7201)
- Miguel Ángel Niño (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3692-147X)
- Dieter Suess (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5453-9974)
- Paweł Nita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2332-3289)
- Claire Donnelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9942-2419)
- Sabri Koraltan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1027-2232)
- Sandra Ruiz‐Gómez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9665-2059)
- Gabriel Sánchez‐Santolino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8036-707X)
- M. Varela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6582-7004)
- Pamela Morales‐Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8442-9570)
- Lukas Danesi
- Claudia Fernández‐González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6299-5803)
- Markus Koenig
- Núria Bagués
Institutions
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Jagiellonian University (PL)
- University of Vienna (AT)
- TU Wien (AT)
- Universidad de Oviedo (ES)
- ALBA Synchrotron (Spain) (ES)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (DE)
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (US)
- Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
- Hiroshima International University (JP)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-08-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62705-x
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.97
Funders
- Comunidad de Madrid
- International Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology
- European Commission
- Austrian Science Fund
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- European Social Fund