Magnetic hopfions in solids

Hopfions are an intriguing class of string-like solitons, named according to a classical topological concept classifying three-dimensional direction fields. The search of hopfions in real physical systems is going on for nearly half a century, starting with the seminal work of Faddeev. But so far realizations in solids are missing. Here, we present a theory that identifies magnetic materials featuring hopfions as stable states without the assistance of confinement or external fields. Our results are based on an advanced micromagnetic energy functional derived from a spin-lattice Hamiltonian. Hopfions appear as emergent particles of the classical Heisenberg model. Magnetic hopfions represent three-dimensional particle-like objects of nanometre-size dimensions opening the gate to a new generation of spintronic devices in the framework of a truly three-dimensional architecture. Our approach goes beyond the conventional phenomenological models. We derive material-realistic parameters that serve as concrete guidance in the search of magnetic hopfions bridging computational physics with materials science.