Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy
Herve M, Dupe B, Lopes R, Boettcher M, Martins MD, Balashov T, Gerhard L, Sinova J, Wulfhekel W (2018)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2018
Journal
Book Volume: 9
Article Number: 1015
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03240-w
Abstract
Skyrmions are topologically protected non-collinear magnetic structures. Their stability is ideally suited to carry information in, e.g., racetrack memories. The success of such a memory critically depends on the ability to stabilize and manipulate skyrmions at low magnetic fields. The non-collinear Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction originating from spin-orbit coupling drives skyrmion formation. It competes with Heisenberg exchange and magnetic anisotropy favoring collinear states. Isolated skyrmions in ultra-thin films so far required magnetic fields as high as several Tesla. Here, we show that isolated skyrmions in a monolayer of Co/Ru(0001) can be stabilized down to vanishing fields. Even with the weak spin-orbit coupling of the 4d element Ru, homochiral spin spirals and isolated skyrmions were detected with spin-sensitive scanning tunneling microscopy. Density functional theory calculations explain the stability of the chiral magnetic features by the absence of magnetic anisotropy energy.
Involved external institutions
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Germany (DE)
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU)
Germany (DE)
Nuclear Technology Development Center / Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN)
Brazil (BR)
Germany (DE)
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU)
Germany (DE)
Nuclear Technology Development Center / Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN)
Brazil (BR)
How to cite
APA:
Herve, M., Dupe, B., Lopes, R., Boettcher, M., Martins, M.D., Balashov, T.,... Wulfhekel, W. (2018). Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy. Nature Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03240-w
MLA:
Herve, Marie, et al. "Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy." Nature Communications 9.1 (2018).
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