pith. sign in

arxiv: 2605.17939 · v1 · pith:LET5ZRVLnew · submitted 2026-05-18 · ❄️ cond-mat.mes-hall · cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Geometric symmetry and size-dependent skyrmion phase transitions in magnetic nanostructures

Pith reviewed 2026-05-20 01:17 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ❄️ cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.mtrl-sci
keywords skyrmionsnanostructuresgeometric symmetrytopological phase transitionsmicromagnetic simulationsspintronicsnanodisks
0
0 comments X

The pith

Rotational symmetry in nanodisks enables rich size-dependent skyrmion phase transitions

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

This paper shows that the symmetry of a magnetic nanostructure's shape controls which skyrmion-related states can form and how they change with size. Nanodisks maintain full rotational symmetry, allowing a progression from uniform ferromagnetic magnetization to isolated skyrmions, then to skyrmioniums, and finally to multiple coexisting states as the disk diameter grows. Square and rectangular forms break this symmetry with their corners, which create localized demagnetization fields that favor fewer and simpler magnetic configurations. External magnetic fields applied perpendicular to nanodisks can switch between skyrmionium and skyrmion phases. The broken symmetry in non-circular shapes turns out to broaden the range of conditions where stable skyrmions exist, offering a way to use geometry for controlling these textures in devices.

Core claim

Rotational symmetry in nanodisks enables rich topological phase transitions, from ferromagnetic states to skyrmions, skyrmioniums, and multi-states, as their diameter increases. In contrast, square and rectangular structures exhibit suppressed topological complexity due to corner-induced demagnetization effects and reduced symmetries. Under perpendicular magnetic fields, nanodisks show field-driven transitions between skyrmionium and skyrmion states. By leveraging asymmetry, square and rectangular nanostructures stabilize skyrmions over a broader parameter range than nanodisks.

What carries the argument

Geometric symmetry of the nanostructure, which dictates the topological phase transitions and the role of demagnetizing fields at edges and corners.

Load-bearing premise

The micromagnetic model and chosen material parameters faithfully reproduce the real-space energetics and demagnetizing fields without significant discretization artifacts or unaccounted thermal effects.

What would settle it

Direct imaging of magnetic states in fabricated nanodisks and nanosquares of systematically varied diameters to confirm whether the predicted sequence of phase transitions with increasing size and the field-driven switches between skyrmionium and skyrmion actually occur.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2605.17939 by C. X. Zhao, H. M. Dong, J. Y. Wang, Y. F. Duan.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: The size-dependent magnetic topological structures with the diameter [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: The distributions of magnetic energy density (a) and the [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p005_2.png] view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: The topological structure phase diagram of the magnetic [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p006_4.png] view at source ↗
Figure 5
Figure 5. Figure 5: The topological structure phase diagram of the magnetic [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p007_5.png] view at source ↗
Figure 6
Figure 6. Figure 6: The variation of the total magnetic energy density [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p008_6.png] view at source ↗
Figure 7
Figure 7. Figure 7: The variation of the total magnetic energy density [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p009_7.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

We investigate the interplay of geometric symmetry, size, and external magnetic fields in regulating individual skyrmion states within magnetic nanostructures. By analyzing nanodisks, nanosquares, and nanorectangles, we demonstrate that rotational symmetry in nanodisks enables rich topological phase transitions, from ferromagnetic states to skyrmions, skyrmioniums, and multi-states, as their diameter increases. In contrast, square and rectangular structures exhibit suppressed topological complexity due to corner-induced demagnetization effects and reduced symmetries. Under perpendicular magnetic fields, nanodisks show field-driven transitions between skyrmionium and skyrmion states. By leveraging asymmetry, square and rectangular nanostructures stabilize skyrmions over a broader parameter range than nanodisks. These findings highlight geometric symmetry as a critical design parameter for tailoring skyrmion stability and functionality in spintronic applications such as multi-state memory and reconfigurable logic devices.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 2 minor

Summary. The paper uses micromagnetic simulations based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation to study skyrmion, skyrmionium, and multi-state configurations in nanodisks, nanosquares, and nanorectangles as functions of lateral size and applied perpendicular field. It claims that the continuous rotational symmetry of disks permits a sequence of topological transitions with increasing diameter (ferromagnetic to skyrmion to skyrmionium to multi-skyrmion states), while the broken symmetry and corner demagnetization in squares and rectangles suppress topological complexity and instead stabilize isolated skyrmions over wider parameter ranges.

Significance. If the reported phase boundaries prove robust, the work would usefully illustrate geometry as a design knob for skyrmion-based multi-state memory and logic elements. The explicit contrast between rotational symmetry and corner-induced effects supplies concrete, falsifiable trends that could inform device fabrication choices.

major comments (2)
  1. [Methods] Methods section: No mesh-convergence study or comparison of cell size to the exchange length is reported. Because the central claim attributes the suppression of topological states in squares and rectangles to corner-induced demagnetizing fields, it is necessary to show that these fields are not altered by finite-difference discretization artifacts at the sharp edges.
  2. [Results] Results, size-dependent phase diagrams (e.g., Figure 4 or equivalent): The reported diameter thresholds for transitions in disks are presented without sensitivity analysis to the chosen material parameters (A, K, Ms, D) or to the Gilbert damping. This makes it difficult to assess whether the richer phase sequence is intrinsic or tied to the specific numerical realization.
minor comments (2)
  1. [Figure 2] Figure captions should explicitly state the color scale for the out-of-plane magnetization component and the direction of the applied field.
  2. [Methods] A brief statement on the boundary conditions (open or periodic) and the treatment of the demagnetizing field (FFT or direct summation) would improve reproducibility.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading of our manuscript and the constructive comments, which have helped us strengthen the presentation of our results. We address each major comment below and indicate the revisions made to the manuscript.

read point-by-point responses
  1. Referee: [Methods] Methods section: No mesh-convergence study or comparison of cell size to the exchange length is reported. Because the central claim attributes the suppression of topological states in squares and rectangles to corner-induced demagnetizing fields, it is necessary to show that these fields are not altered by finite-difference discretization artifacts at the sharp edges.

    Authors: We agree that explicit validation of the discretization is warranted given the emphasis on corner demagnetization. In the revised manuscript we have added a dedicated paragraph to the Methods section that specifies the cell size (2 nm) relative to the exchange length (~6 nm for the chosen parameters) and reports convergence tests performed with cell sizes ranging from 4 nm down to 1 nm. These tests confirm that the phase boundaries, the stability of isolated skyrmions in squares/rectangles, and the suppression of higher-order topological states remain unchanged within numerical tolerance, indicating that the reported geometry-driven effects are not discretization artifacts. revision: yes

  2. Referee: [Results] Results, size-dependent phase diagrams (e.g., Figure 4 or equivalent): The reported diameter thresholds for transitions in disks are presented without sensitivity analysis to the chosen material parameters (A, K, Ms, D) or to the Gilbert damping. This makes it difficult to assess whether the richer phase sequence is intrinsic or tied to the specific numerical realization.

    Authors: The referee is correct that no systematic sensitivity analysis was provided in the original submission. While the chosen parameter set corresponds to representative Co/Pt multilayers, we have now included additional simulations in the revised Results section and supplementary material. These show that the ferromagnetic–skyrmion–skyrmionium–multi-skyrmion sequence persists when D is varied by ±20 % and Ms by ±10 %, although the precise transition diameters shift quantitatively. Because the phase diagrams are obtained via energy minimization, the Gilbert damping parameter does not affect the equilibrium states; we have added a clarifying sentence to this effect. A complete multi-dimensional parameter sweep lies beyond the scope of the present work, but the added checks demonstrate that the qualitative role of rotational symmetry is robust. revision: partial

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity in numerical derivation chain

full rationale

The paper reports phase transitions obtained via direct numerical integration of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation on finite-difference grids for nanodisks, nanosquares, and nanorectangles. No fitted parameters are redefined as predictions, no self-citations supply load-bearing uniqueness theorems, and no ansatz or renaming reduces the reported symmetry-driven differences to the input geometry by construction. The central claims rest on simulation outcomes under varying diameter and field, which remain independent of the target results.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 1 axioms · 0 invented entities

The central claim rests on the standard micromagnetic energy functional (exchange, anisotropy, demagnetization, Zeeman) and the assumption that thermal fluctuations and defects can be neglected at the simulated sizes and temperatures.

axioms (1)
  • domain assumption Micromagnetic continuum approximation remains valid down to the simulated nanostructure diameters.
    Invoked implicitly when treating the structures as continuous media rather than atomistic spins.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5700 in / 1306 out tokens · 38530 ms · 2026-05-20T01:17:38.019381+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

  • IndisputableMonolith/Cost/FunctionalEquation.lean washburn_uniqueness_aczel unclear
    ?
    unclear

    Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

    We solve the LLG equation numerically using the finite-difference GPU-accelerated package Mumax3. The nanostructures ... are discretized with a regular mesh of 1×1×1 nm³. ... material parameters are adopted: Ms = 914 kA/m, A = 11.2 pJ/m, D = 4.1 mJ/m², Ku = 6 MJ/m³

  • IndisputableMonolith/Foundation/AlexanderDuality.lean alexander_duality_circle_linking unclear
    ?
    unclear

    Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

    rotational symmetry in nanodisks enables rich topological phase transitions ... square and rectangular structures exhibit suppressed topological complexity due to corner-induced demagnetization effects and reduced symmetries

What do these tags mean?
matches
The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports
The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends
The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses
The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts
The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear
Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

40 extracted references · 40 canonical work pages

  1. [1]

    A. Fert, N. Reyren, V . Cros, Magnetic skyrmions: advances in physics and potential applications, Nature Reviews Materials 2 (7) (2017) 17031. doi:10.1038/natrevmats.2017.31

  2. [2]

    S. Li, X. Wang, T. Rasing, Magnetic skyrmions: Basic properties and potential applications, In- terdisciplinary Materials 2 (2) (2023) 260–289. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/idm2.12072

  3. [3]

    Casiraghi, H

    A. Casiraghi, H. Corte-León, M. Vafaee, F. Garcia-Sanchez, G. Durin, M. Pasquale, G. Jakob, M. Kläui, O. Kazakova, Individual skyrmion manipulation by local magnetic field gradients, Communications Physics 2 (1) (2019)

  4. [4]

    doi:10.1038/s42005-019-0242-5

  5. [5]

    P. Ho, A. K. Tan, S. Goolaup, A. G. Oyarce, M. Raju, L. Huang, A. Soumya- narayanan, C. Panagopoulos, Geometri- cally Tailored Skyrmions at Zero Magnetic Field in Multilayered Nanostructures, Phys- ical Review Applied 11 (2) (2019) 024064. doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.11.024064

  6. [6]

    W. L. Fu, H. M. Dong, K. Chang, Tilted chiral spin textures in confined nanostruc- tures with in-plane magnetic anisotropy, Physical Review B 111 (4) (2025) 045422. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.111.045422

  7. [7]

    D. A. Gilbert, B. B. Maranville, A. L. Balk, B. J. Kirby, P. Fischer, D. T. Pierce, J. Unguris, J. A. Borchers, K. Liu, Realization of ground- state artificial skyrmion lattices at room temper- ature, Nature Communications 6 (1) (2015) 8462. doi:10.1038/ncomms9462

  8. [8]

    Da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes, Y

    T. Da Câmara Santa Clara Gomes, Y . Sassi, D. Sanz-Hernández, S. Krishnia, S. Collin, M.- B. Martin, P. Seneor, V . Cros, J. Grollier, N. Reyren, Neuromorphic weighted sums with magnetic skyrmions, Nature Electronics 8 (3) (2025) 204–214. doi:10.1038/s41928-024-01303- z

  9. [9]

    Y . Ni, Y . Guo, Y .-Y . Jiang, T. Huang, Q. Mu, F. Hou, T. Li, S. Wang, Z. Zhang, D. Shao, X. Ding, T. Min, T. Li, Emergent Skyrmions in Cr0.85Te nanoflakes at Room Temperature, Small 21 (5) (2025) 2409189. doi:10.1002/smll.202409189

  10. [10]

    Nishitani, S

    T. Nishitani, S. Honda, H. Itoh, T. Ohsawa, M. A. Tanaka, Interconnected skyrmions in a nanowire structure: Micromagnetic simulations, Physical Review B 110 (17) (2024) 174415. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.110.174415

  11. [11]

    Kechrakos, V

    D. Kechrakos, V . Puliafito, A. Riveros, J. Liu, W. Jiang, M. Carpentieri, R. Tomasello, G. Finocchio, Skyrmions in nanorings: A versatile platform for skyrmionics, Physi- cal Review Applied 20 (4) (2023) 044039. doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.044039

  12. [12]

    L. Bo, C. Hu, L. Ji, L. Kong, R. Zhao, X. Zhang, Tailoring Helicity Angle of Twisted Skyrmions in Multilayered Nanostructures, Physica Status So- lidi (RRL) – Rapid Research Letters 15 (7) (2021) 2100076. doi:10.1002/pssr.202100076

  13. [13]

    R. V . Verba, D. Navas, S. A. Bunyaev, A. Hierro- Rodriguez, K. Y . Guslienko, B. A. Ivanov, G. N. Kakazei, Helicity of magnetic vor- tices and skyrmions in soft ferromagnetic nan- odots and films biased by stray radial fields, Physical Review B 101 (6) (2020) 064429. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.101.064429

  14. [14]

    Q. Liu, S. Dong, Y . Wang, J. Liu, G. Xu, H. Bai, H. Bai, W. Sun, Z. Cheng, Y . Yan, G. Chai, J. Ma, J. Cai, C. Song, W. Jiang, J. Zhu, C. Nan, H. Huang, Y . Zhao, Room-temperature creation and conversion of individual skyrmion bags in magnetic multilayered disks, Nature Communica- tions 16 (1) (2025) 125. doi:10.1038/s41467-024- 55489-z

  15. [15]

    Jin, Z.-A

    C. Jin, Z.-A. Li, A. Kovács, J. Caron, F. Zheng, F. N. Rybakov, N. S. Kiselev, H. Du, S. Blügel, M. Tian, Y . Zhang, M. Farle, R. E. Dunin- Borkowski, Control of morphology and forma- tion of highly geometrically confined magnetic skyrmions, Nature Communications 8 (1) (2017) 15569. doi:10.1038/ncomms15569

  16. [16]

    M. J. Stolt, Z.-A. Li, B. Phillips, D. Song, N. Mathur, R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, S. Jin, Se- lective Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Cu- bic FeGe Nanowires That Support Stabilized Mag- netic Skyrmions, Nano Letters 17 (1) (2017) 508–

  17. [17]

    doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04548

  18. [18]

    Navau, N

    C. Navau, N. Del-Valle, A. Sanchez, Analyti- cal trajectories of skyrmions in confined geome- tries: Skyrmionic racetracks and nano-oscillators, 10 Physical Review B 94 (18) (2016) 184104. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.94.184104

  19. [19]

    Hagemeister, D

    J. Hagemeister, D. Iaia, E. Y . Vedme- denko, K. V on Bergmann, A. Kubetzka, R. Wiesendanger, Skyrmions at the Edge: Confinement Effects in Fe/Ir(111), Physi- cal Review Letters 117 (20) (2016) 207202. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.207202

  20. [20]

    R. A. Pepper, M. Beg, D. Cortés-Ortuño, T. Kluyver, M.-A. Bisotti, R. Carey, M. V ous- den, M. Albert, W. Wang, O. Hovorka, H. Fan- gohr, Skyrmion states in thin confined polygonal nanostructures, Journal of Applied Physics 123 (9) (2018) 093903. doi:10.1063/1.5022567

  21. [21]

    X. Zhao, C. Jin, C. Wang, H. Du, J. Zang, M. Tian, R. Che, Y . Zhang, Direct imaging of magnetic field-driven transitions of skyrmion cluster states in FeGe nanodisks, PNAS 113 (18) (2016) 4918–

  22. [22]

    doi:10.1073/pnas.1600197113

  23. [23]

    H. M. Dong, P. P. Fu, Y . F. Duan, K. Chang, Ultrafast manipulations of nanoscale skyrmioni- ums, Journal of Applied Physics 136 (11) (2024) 114301. doi:10.1063/5.0227996

  24. [24]

    H. Du, X. Wang, Progress and challenges in magnetic skyrmionics, Chinese Physics B 31 (8) (2022) 087507. doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ac754f

  25. [25]

    Reichhardt, C

    C. Reichhardt, C. J. O. Reichhardt, M. V . Miloše- vi´c, Statics and dynamics of skyrmions inter- acting with disorder and nanostructures, Re- views of Modern Physics 94 (3) (2022) 035005. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.94.035005

  26. [26]

    S. Lu, Y . Duan, D. Yu, H. Dong, Mag- netic field-tuned size and dual annihila- tion pathways of chiral magnetic bobbers, Frontiers of Physics 21 (8) (2026) 085202. doi:10.15302/frontphys.2026.085202

  27. [28]

    G. P. Müller, M. Hoffmann, C. Dißelkamp, D. Schürhoff, S. Mavros, M. Sallermann, N. S. Kiselev, H. Jónsson, S. Blügel, Spirit: Mul- tifunctional framework for atomistic spin sim- ulations, Phys. Rev. B 99 (2019) 224414. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.99.224414

  28. [29]

    J. J. Joos, P. Bassirian, P. Gypens, J. Mulkers, K. Litzius, B. Van Waeyenberge, J. Leliaert, Tu- torial: Simulating modern magnetic material sys- tems in mumax3, Journal of Applied Physics 134 (17) (2023) 171101. doi:10.1063/5.0160988

  29. [30]

    Vansteenkiste, J

    A. Vansteenkiste, J. Leliaert, M. Dvornik, M. Helsen, F. Garcia-Sanchez, B. Van Waeyen- berge, The design and verification of Mu- Max3, AIP Adv. 4 (10) (2014) 107133. doi:10.1063/1.4899186

  30. [31]

    Rohart, A

    S. Rohart, A. Thiaville, Skyrmion confine- ment in ultrathin film nanostructures in the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, Physical Review B 88 (18) (2013) 184422. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.88.184422

  31. [32]

    H. M. Dong, P. P. Fu, Y . F. Duan, K. Chang, Tun- ing nano-skyrmions and nano-skyrmioniums in Janus magnets, Nanoscale 15 (38) (2023) 15643– 15648. doi:10.1039/D3NR02181E

  32. [33]

    Y . Liu, J. Qiu, S. T. Lim, S. L. Toh, Z. Zhu, G. Han, K. Zhu, Strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in [Co/Pt] n ultrathin superlattices, Ap- plied Physics Express 10 (1) (2017) 013005. doi:10.7567/APEX.10.013005

  33. [34]

    L. Zhu, D. Lujan, X. Li, Discovery of strong bulk Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in composition-uniform centrosymmetric mag- netic single layers, Science China Physics, Me- chanics & Astronomy 67 (2) (2024) 227511. doi:10.1007/s11433-023-2232-2

  34. [35]

    C. R. H. Bahl, Estimating the demagneti- zation factors for regular permanent magnet pieces, AIP Advances 11 (7) (2021) 075028. doi:10.1063/5.0060897

  35. [36]

    A. Fert, V . Cros, J. Sampaio, Skyrmions on the track, Nature Nanotechnology 8 (3) (2013) 152–

  36. [37]

    doi:10.1038/nnano.2013.29

  37. [38]

    C. V . Sarmiento, A. P. Guimarães, Analy- sis of stability and transition dynamics of skyrmions and skyrmioniums in ferromagnetic nanodisks: A micromagnetic study at finite temperature, Phys. Rev. B 110 (2024) 064437. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.110.064437

  38. [39]

    Xing, Z.-H

    E.-F. Xing, Z.-H. Niu, G.-P. Zhang, C.-K. Wang, G. Chen, Y . Song, First principles design of multi- functional spintronic devices based on super nar- row borophene nanoribbons, Scientific Reports 11 15 (1) (2025) 2602. doi:10.1038/s41598-025- 87132-2

  39. [40]

    S. Yang, Y . Zhao, K. Wu, Z. Chu, X. Xu, X. Li, J. Åkerman, Y . Zhou, Reversible con- version between skyrmions and skyrmioniums, Nature Communications 14 (1) (2023) 3406. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-39007-1

  40. [41]

    Dieny, I

    B. Dieny, I. L. Prejbeanu, K. Garello, P. Gam- bardella, P. Freitas, R. Lehndorff, W. Raberg, U. Ebels, S. O. Demokritov, J. Akerman, A. Deac, P. Pirro, C. Adelmann, A. Anane, A. V . Chu- mak, A. Hirohata, S. Mangin, S. O. Valenzuela, M. C. Onba¸ slı, M. d’Aquino, G. Prenat, G. Finoc- chio, L. Lopez-Diaz, R. Chantrell, O. Chubykalo- Fesenko, P. Bortolotti...