Observation of room temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin Co films

Bibliographic Details
Title: Observation of room temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin Co films
Authors: Woo, Seonghoon, Litzius, Kai, Krüger, Benjamin, Im, Mi-Young, Caretta, Lucas, Richter, Kornel, Mann, Maxwell, Krone, Andrea, Reeve, Robert, Weigand, Markus, Agrawal, Parnika, Fischer, Peter, Kläui, Mathias, Beach, Geoffrey S. D.
Publication Year: 2015
Collection: Condensed Matter
Subject Terms: Condensed Matter - Materials Science
More Details: Magnetic skyrmions are topologically-protected spin textures that exhibit fascinating physical behaviors and large potential in highly energy efficient spintronic device applications. The main obstacles so far are that skyrmions have been observed in only a few exotic materials and at low temperatures, and manipulation of individual skyrmions has not yet been achieved. Here, we report the observation of stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in ultrathin transition metal ferromagnets with magnetic transmission soft x-ray microscopy. We demonstrate the ability to generate stable skyrmion lattices and drive trains of individual skyrmions by short current pulses along a magnetic racetrack. Our findings provide experimental evidence of recent predictions and open the door to room-temperature skyrmion spintronics in robust thin-film heterostructures.
Comment: 12 pages 3 figures
Document Type: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1038/nmat4593
Access URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.07376
Accession Number: edsarx.1502.07376
Database: arXiv
More Details
DOI:10.1038/nmat4593