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    Magnetic Skyrmion Interacting with Optical Skyrmion

    Lan Bo1,*, Jian Chen2,*, Xichao Zhang1,3,4,5, Yan Zhou6,†, Chengwei Qiu7,‡, and Masahito Mochizuki1,§

    • 1Department of Applied Physics, Waseda University, Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
    • 2School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
    • 3Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
    • 4Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
    • 5IAS Center for Quantum Matter, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
    • 6School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China
    • 7Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore

    • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
    • †Contact author: zhouyan@cuhk.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: chengwei.qiu@nus.edu.sg
    • §Contact author: masa_mochizuki@waseda.jp
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    Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 126701 – Published 14 September, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hylp-trxp

    Abstract

    Magnetic skyrmions (MSks) and optical skyrmions (OSks) embody topology in matter and in light, respectively. Here we investigate the interaction between a single MSk and an OSk beam. Three distinct nonlinear dynamical modes are identified: rotation, skipping, and trochoidal motion. By decomposing the optical driving force into gradient, orbital-angular-momentum, and spin-angular-momentum contributions, we clarify their respective roles of radial confinement, azimuthal drift, and precessional modulation. The skipping motion arises from the azimuthal asymmetry of the OSk beam and exhibits spatial selectivity originating from the magnetization-polarization coupling between the MSk and OSk. In three dimensions, the coupling acquires a propagation-dependent phase dominated by the differential Gouy phase, which yields z-asymmetric skipping trajectories. These results bridge topological particles and topological fields within a unified framework, offering helicity-selective and phase-programmable routes to optomagnonic control.

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    Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 126701– Published 14 September, 2026
    • Received 7 January 2026
    • Accepted 24 August 2026
    Article part of CHORUS
    Accepted manuscript will be available starting 14 September, 2027.
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