Creation of Single Chain of Nanoscale Skyrmion Bubbles with Record-High Temperature Stability in a Geometrically Confined Nanostripe

Nano Lett. 2018 Feb 14;18(2):1274-1279. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04900. Epub 2018 Jan 9.

Abstract

Nanoscale topologically nontrivial spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, have been identified as promising candidates for the transport and storage of information for spintronic applications, notably magnetic racetrack memory devices. The design and realization of a single skyrmion chain at room temperature (RT) and above in the low-dimensional nanostructures are of great importance for future practical applications. Here, we report the creation of a single skyrmion bubble chain in a geometrically confined Fe3Sn2 nanostripe with a width comparable to the featured size of a skyrmion bubble. Systematic investigations on the thermal stability have revealed that the single chain of skyrmion bubbles can keep stable at temperatures varying from RT up to a record-high temperature of 630 K. This extreme stability can be ascribed to the weak temperature-dependent magnetic anisotropy and the formation of edge states at the boundaries of the nanostripes. The realization of the highly stable skyrmion bubble chain in a geometrically confined nanostructure is a very important step toward the application of skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

Keywords: Lorentz transmission electron microscopy; Skyrmion bubble; frustrated magnet; temperature stability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't