Nano Lett. 2017 May 10;17(5):3006-3012. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00328. Epub 2017 Apr 27.

The Skyrmion Switch: Turning Magnetic Skyrmion Bubbles on and off with an Electric Field.

Nano letters

Marine Schott, Anne Bernand-Mantel, Laurent Ranno, Stefania Pizzini, Jan Vogel, Hélène Béa, Claire Baraduc, Stéphane Auffret, Gilles Gaudin, Dominique Givord

PMID: 28437086 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00328

Abstract

Nanoscale magnetic skyrmions are considered as potential information carriers for future spintronics memory and logic devices. Such applications will require the control of their local creation and annihilation, which involves so far solutions that are either energy consuming or difficult to integrate. Here we demonstrate the control of skyrmion bubbles nucleation and annihilation using electric field gating, an easily integrable and potentially energetically efficient solution. We present a detailed stability diagram of the skyrmion bubbles in a Pt/Co/oxide trilayer and show that their stability can be controlled via an applied electric field. An analytical bubble model with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction imbedded in the domain wall energy accounts for the observed electrical skyrmion switching effect. This allows us to unveil the origin of the electrical control of skyrmions stability and to show that both magnetic dipolar interaction and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction play an important role in the skyrmion bubble stabilization.

Keywords: Room temperature; electric field; magnetic switching; perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; skyrmions; spintronics; thin films

Publication Types

• Journal Article
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't