Photothermal skyrmion tweezer: programmable optical manipulation of magnetic topological quasiparticles

Magnetic skyrmions, as topological quasiparticles, have shown great potential as information carriers for next-generation spintronic technologies, including memory, logic, and computing devices. While their non-trivial topological dynamics and interactions have been extensively explored, experimental control of individual skyrmions has so far relied mainly on global stimuli such as electric currents, magnetic fields, and surface acoustic waves. Efforts to achieve precise skyrmion positioning are significantly hampered by the skyrmion Hall effect and defect pinning. Here, we demonstrate high-precision trapping and transport of individual skyrmions using a photothermal potential well, thereby extending optical manipulation into the quasiparticle realm. Moreover, by integrating deterministic optical skyrmion creation and annihilation with photothermal and conventional electrical transport methods, we establish a fully programmable platform for systematic investigation of skyrmion dynamics and interactions. This approach opens new avenues towards reconfigurable and scalable architectures for future skyrmionic device applications and enriches studies of light-quasiparticle interactions in solid-state systems.