Room-temperature chiral magnetic skyrmions in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures

被引:900
作者
Boulle, Olivier [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Vogel, Jan [4 ,5 ]
Yang, Hongxin [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Pizzini, Stefania [4 ,5 ]
Chaves, Dayane de Souza [4 ,5 ]
Locatelli, Andrea [6 ]
Mentes, Tevfik Onur [6 ]
Sala, Alessandro [6 ]
Buda-Prejbeanu, Liliana D. [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Klein, Olivier [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Belmeguenai, Mohamed [7 ]
Roussigne, Yves [7 ]
Stashkevich, Andrey [7 ]
Cherif, Salim Mourad [7 ]
Aballe, Lucia [8 ]
Foerster, Michael [8 ]
Chshiev, Mairbek [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Auffret, Stephane [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Miron, Ioan Mihai [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Gaudin, Gilles [1 ,2 ,3 ]
机构
[1] Univ Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, F-38000 Grenoble, France
[2] CNRS, SPINTEC, F-38000 Grenoble, France
[3] CEA, INAC SPINTEC, F-38000 Grenoble, France
[4] CNRS, Inst Neel, 25 Ave Martyrs,BP 166, F-38042 Grenoble 9, France
[5] Univ Grenoble Alpes, Inst Neel, 25 Ave Martyrs,BP 166, F-38042 Grenoble 9, France
[6] Elettra Sincrotrone ScpA, SS 14 Km 163-5 AREA Sci Pk, I-34149 Trieste, Italy
[7] Univ Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cite, CNRS, LSPM,UPR 3407, 99 Ave Jean Baptiste Clement, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France
[8] ALBA Synchrotron Light Facil, Carretera BP 1413,Km 3-3, Barcelona 08290, Spain
关键词
DZYALOSHINSKII-MORIYA INTERACTION; DOMAIN-WALLS; STABILITY; DYNAMICS; STATE; NUCLEATION; CONVERSION; EXCHANGE; INPLANE; LATTICE;
D O I
10.1038/nnano.2015.315
中图分类号
TB3 [工程材料学];
学科分类号
0805 ; 080502 ;
摘要
Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin structures with a whirling configuration. Their topological properties, nanometre size and the fact that they can be moved by small current densities have opened a new paradigm for the manipulation of magnetization at the nanoscale. Chiral skyrmion structures have so far been experimentally demonstrated only in bulk materials and in epitaxial ultrathin films, and under an external magnetic field or at low temperature. Here, we report on the observation of stable skyrmions in sputtered ultrathin Pt/Co/MgO nanostructures at room temperature and zero external magnetic field. We use high lateral resolution X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy to image their chiral Neel internal structure, which we explain as due to the large strength of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as revealed by spin wave spectroscopy measurements. Our results are substantiated by micromagnetic simulations and numerical models, which allow the identification of the physical mechanisms governing the size and stability of the skyrmions.
引用
收藏
页码:449 / +
页数:7
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