2019/11/01 by Y. Quessab, J-W. Xu, J. -W. Xu +7
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Amorphous solid #Dipole #Ferrimagnetism #Ferromagnetism #Magnetic domain #Magnetic force microscope #Magnetic properties of thin films #Metallic Glasses and Amorphous Alloys #Multiferroics and related materials #Nucleation #Point reflection #Skyrmion #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.other
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64427-0
arxiv created 2019/11/01 · openalex publication_date 2020/05/04 · openalex created_date 2020/05/13 · arxiv updated 2020/06/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Skyrmions can be stabilized in magnetic systems with broken inversion symmetry and chiral interactions, such as Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). Further, compensation of magnetic moments in ferrimagnetic materials can significantly reduce magnetic dipolar interactions, which tend to favor large skyrmions. Tuning DMI is essential to control skyrmion properties, with symmetry breaking at interfaces offering the greatest flexibility. However, in contrast to the ferromagnet case, few studies have investigated interfacial DMI in ferrimagnets. Here we present a systematic study of DMI in ferrimagnetic CoGd films by Brillouin light scattering. We demonstrate the ability to control DMI by the CoGd cap layer composition, the stack symmetry and the ferrimagnetic layer thickness. The DMI thickness dependence confirms its interfacial nature. In addition, magnetic force microscopy reveals the ability to tune DMI in a range that stabilizes sub-100 nm skyrmions at room temperature in zero field. Our work opens new paths for controlling interfacial DMI in ferrimagnets to nucleate and manipulate skyrmions.