Direct Observation of Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Current-Induced Dynamics in Epitaxial Single-Crystal Oxide Films

Jine Zhang; Mengqin Wang; Zhizhong Zhang; Hailin Huang; Liang Zhu; Dan Liu; Hui Zhang; Furong Han; Huaiwen Yang; Jing Zhang; Zhe Li; Wenxiao Shi; Jie Zheng; Yunzhong Chen; Fengxia Hu; Hongxin Yang; Weisheng Zhao; Baogen Shen; Yue Zhang; Yuansha Chen; Ji-Rong Sun

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00342

Direct Observation of Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Current-Induced Dynamics in Epitaxial Single-Crystal Oxide Films

Nano Lett. 2023 May 24;23(10):4258-4266. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00342. Epub 2023 May 9.

Authors

Jine Zhang^{1

2}, Mengqin Wang^{2

3}, Zhizhong Zhang¹, Hailin Huang^{2

3}, Liang Zhu², Dan Liu⁴, Hui Zhang¹, Furong Han¹, Huaiwen Yang¹, Jing Zhang⁵, Zhe Li^{2

3}, Wenxiao Shi^{2

3}, Jie Zheng^{2

3}, Yunzhong Chen², Fengxia Hu^{2

3

5}, Hongxin Yang⁶, Weisheng Zhao¹, Baogen Shen^{2

3

7}, Yue Zhang¹, Yuansha Chen^{2

8}, Ji-Rong Sun^{2

3

5

9}

Affiliations

¹ School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
² Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
³ School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Department of Physics, School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
⁵ Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China.
⁶ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
⁷ Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, China.
⁸ Fujian Innovation Academy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China.
⁹ Spintronics Institute, School of Physics and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China.

PMID: 37158610
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00342

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are scarcely investigated for single-crystal quality films, for which skyrmions may have a remarkable performance. Even in the limited studies in this aspect, the skyrmions are usually probed by the topological Hall effect, missing important information on dynamic properties. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation on the generation/manipulation of magnetic skyrmions in La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ single-crystal films. Using the technique of magnetic force microscopy, the current-driven skyrmion dynamics are directly observed. Unlike isolated skyrmions produced by magnetic field alone, closely packed skyrmions can be generated by electric pulses in a magnetic background, with a high density (∼60/μm²) and a small size (dozens of nanometers). The threshold current moving skyrmions is ∼2.3 × 10⁴ A/cm², 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than that required by metallic multilayers or van der Waals ferromagnetic heterostructures. Our work demonstrates the great potential of single-crystal oxide films in developing skyrmion-based devices.

Keywords: current-driven dynamics; epitaxial oxide films; magnetic force microscopy; magnetic skyrmions.