The design, verification, and applications of Hotspice: a Monte Carlo simulator for artificial spin ice

Abstract

We present Hotspice, a Monte Carlo simulation software designed to capture the dynamics and equilibrium states of Artificial Spin Ice (ASI) systems with both in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) geometries. An Ising-like model is used where each nanomagnet is represented as a macrospin, with switching events driven by thermal fluctuations, magnetostatic interactions, and external fields. To improve simulation accuracy, we explore the impact of several corrections to this model, concerning for example the calculation of the dipole interaction in IP and OOP ASI, as well as the impact of allowing asymmetric rather than symmetric energy barriers between stable states. We validate these enhancements by comparing simulation results with experimental data for pinwheel and kagome ASI lattices, demonstrating how these corrections enable a more accurate simulation of the behavior of these systems. We finish with a demonstration of 'clocking' in pinwheel and OOP square ASI as an example of reservoir computing.