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arXiv · 1601.02278

Room temperature chiral magnetic skyrmion in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures

Olivier Boulle·Jan Vogel·Hongxin Yang·Stefania Pizzini·Dayane de Souza Chaves·Andrea Locatelli·Tevfik Onur Menteş Alessandro Sala·Liliana D. Buda-Prejbeanu·Olivier Klein·Mohamed Belmeguenai·Yves Roussigné·Andrey Stashkevich·Salim Mourad Chérif·Lucia Aballe·Michael Foerster·Mairbek Chshiev·Stéphane Auffret·Ioan Mihai Miron·Gilles Gaudin
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Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin structures with a whirling configuration. Their topological properties, nanometer size and the fact that they can be moved by small current densities have opened a new paradigm for the manipulation of magnetisation at the nanoscale. To date, chiral skyrmion structures have been experimentally demonstrated only in bulk materials and in epitaxial ultrathin films and under 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 applied magnetic field. We use high lateral resolution X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy to image their chiral Néel 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.

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Olivier Boulle, Jan Vogel, Hongxin Yang, Stefania Pizzini, Dayane de Souza Chaves, Andrea Locatelli, Tevfik Onur Menteş Alessandro Sala, Liliana D. Buda-Prejbeanu, Olivier Klein, Mohamed Belmeguenai, Yves Roussigné, Andrey Stashkevich, Salim Mourad Chérif, Lucia Aballe, Michael Foerster, Mairbek Chshiev, Stéphane Auffret, Ioan Mihai Miron, Gilles Gaudin. 2016-01-10. Room temperature chiral magnetic skyrmion in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.315

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