2017/06/30 by Seonghoon Woo, Kyung Mee Song, Xichao Zhang +14 · 135 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Current (fluid) #Dither #Ferrimagnetism #Magnetic force microscope #Magnetic properties of thin films #Magnon #Multiferroics and related materials #Nanoscopic scale #Shape Memory Alloy Transformations #Skyrmion #Spintronics #Stripline #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41928-018-0070-8
published in Nature Electronics 1(5), 288-296 (Nature Portfolio) · 27 pages, 4 figures
openalex created_date 2017/06/30 · arxiv created 2018/04/06 · openalex publication_date 2018/05/03 · arxiv updated 2018/05/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Spintronic devices based on magnetic skyrmions are a promising candidate for next-generation memory applications due to their nanometre-size, topologically-protected stability and efficient current-driven dynamics. Since the recent discovery of room-temperature magnetic skyrmions, there have been reports of current-driven skyrmion displacement on magnetic tracks and demonstrations of current pulse-driven skyrmion generation. However, the controlled annihilation of a single skyrmion at room temperature has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate the deterministic writing and deleting of single isolated skyrmions at room temperature in ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films with a device-compatible stripline geometry. The process is driven by the application of current pulses, which induce spin-orbit torques, and is directly observed using a time resolved nanoscale X-ray imaging technique. We provide a current-pulse profile for the efficient and deterministic writing and deleting process. Using micromagnetic simulations, we also reveal the microscopic mechanism of the topological fluctuations that occur during this process.