Discovery and investigation of systems with coupled topological magnetism and shape-memory properties

Project title: Discovery and investigation of systems with coupled topological magnetism and shape-memory properties
Main applicant: Vladislav Borisov, Division of Materials Theory
Grant amount: SEK 4 301 000 for the period 2025-2028

Magnets with nanoscale topological textures, such as skyrmions, attract a lot of attention due to their possible applications in nanoscale memory devices and search for new topological magnets is an on-going effort in the research community. On the other hand, there are systems with shape memory, such as Ni-Ti alloy, which means that the material restores its original shape even after significant deformation due to external stimuli (e.g. heating) or by itself (superelasticity). Interestingly, there are only 2 known compounds (Mn₂NiGa and Ni₂MnGa) with both types of memories, magnetic and shape, but little is known about the physical mechanism of their fascinating properties.

The proposed VR project will focus on discovery and investigation of new systems with coexisting and coupled shape memory and topological magnetism, which would develop a new broad research direction. Materials with these functionalities will withstand large deformations that can tune magnetism significantly and, for that reason, will be fundamentally and practically interesting in terms of mechanical control of magnetism. The research will be done using scale-bridging approach for modelling magnets on different length scales using modern electronic structure methods, density functional theory as well as atomistic and micromagnetic simulations. As a result, new topological materials will be identified and insights into the physical picture of coupled magnetic and mechanical phenomena will be obtained.