2018/05/10 by Senfu Zhang, Junwei Zhang, Yan Wen +2 · 63 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chirality (physics) #Field (mathematics) #Lorentz transformation #Magnetic Properties of Alloys #Magnetic field #Magnetic properties of thin films #Magnetic structure #Magnetization #Multiferroics and related materials #Sign (mathematics) #Skyrmion #Spin (aerodynamics) #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s42005-018-0040-5
published in Communications Physics 1(1) (Nature Portfolio)
arxiv created 2018/05/10 · openalex created_date 2018/05/17 · openalex publication_date 2018/07/11 · arxiv updated 2018/10/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected nanoscale spin textures exhibiting fascinating physical behaviors. Recent observations of room temperature Néel-type skyrmions in magnetic multilayer films are an important step towards their use in ultra-low power devices. Here, we investigate the magnetization reversal in [Pt/Co/Ta] n multilayer samples under a tilted magnetic field using in-situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. On decreasing the magnetic field, individual skyrmions appear to subsequently evolve into snake-like structures growing in the direction opposite to the in-plane magnetic field. We show that this unusual relation between the velocity vector and the magnetic field is dominated by the chirality of the Néel-type skyrmions. It allows one to extract the sign of the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya constant. We also demonstrate that high concentration of skyrmions can be achieved on increasing the in-plane component of the field or increasing the disorder of the film. Our micromagnetic simulations agree with our experimental results.