Configurable pixelated skyrmions on nanoscale magnetic grids

Topological spin textures can serve as non-volatile information carriers. Here we study the current-induced dynamics of magnetic skyrmions on a nanoscale square grid formed by orthogonal defect lines with reduced magnetic anisotropy. A skyrmion on the square grid is pixelated with a quantized size of the grid. We demonstrate that the position, size, and shape of skyrmions on the square grid are electrically configurable, which can be used to store digital information. The skyrmion center is quantized to be on the grid and the skyrmion shows a hopping motion instead of a continuous motion. We find that the skyrmion Hall effect can be perfectly prohibited due to the pinning effect of the grid. The pixelated skyrmions can be harnessed to build the programmable racetrack memory, multistate memory, and logic computing device. Our results will be a basis for future digital computation based on pixelated topological spin textures.