Charge Transport, Spin Transport and Magneto-Optics of Solid-State Topological Memory Devices

Topological spin textures such as skyrmions are strong candidates for next-generationstorage units and spintronic devices. Skyrmions formed on the surface of Topological Insu-lators (TIs) give rise to additional device functionalities. The skyrmion-TI heterostructuresystem shows quantized topological Hall effect (QTHE) without any external magnetic eld.This shows that the topological properties of the skyrmion spin texture can be imprintedon the Dirac electrons of the topological insulator. We also predict such a skyrmion-TIheterostructure will give rise to high gure-of-merit magneto-optic Kerr effects (MOKE).Optical dielectric tensor elements are calculated using a tight-binding model and the Kuboformula. We show that the Fermi level dependence of the MOKE signatures is distinctfor the different magnetic textures. Based on this, a skyrmion optical memory device isproposed. Next, we investigate antiferromagnetic (AFM) skyrmion since it offers couple ofadvantages in terms of speed and stability compared to its ferromagnetic counterpart. Weinvestigate how AFM skyrmions can be manipulated using temperature gradient to realizenovel spintronic device. The effect of temperature gradients on AFM skyrmion dynamics is predicted using a numerical Landau Lifshitz Gilbert (LLG) model.