Orbital angular momentum and current-induced motion of a topologically textured domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanotube

Abstract

We theoretically study the current-induced dynamics of a domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanotube by developing a theory for the orbital angular momentum of a domain wall and the current-induced torque on it. Specifically, a domain wall with nontrivial magnetization winding along the circumference is shown to possess finite orbital angular momentum, which is proportional to the product of its topological charge and position, and the current is shown to exert a torque changing the orbital angular momentum of the domain wall and thereby driving it. The current-induced torque is interpreted as the transfer of orbital angular momentum from electrons to the domain wall, which occurs due to the emergent magnetic field associated with the topological charge. Our results reveal a hitherto unrecognized utility of the orbital degree of freedom of magnetic solitons.