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arXiv · 1706.06923

Direct imaging of a zero-field target skyrmion and its polarity switch in a chiral magnetic nanodisk

Fengshan Zheng·Hang Li·Shasha Wang·Dongsheng Song·Chiming Jin·Wenshen Wei·András Kovács·Jiadong Zang·Mingliang Tian·Yuheng Zhang·Haifeng Du·Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski
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Abstract

A target skyrmion is a flux-closed spin texture that has two-fold degeneracy and is promising as a binary state in next generation universal memories. Although its formation in nanopatterned chiral magnets has been predicted, its observation has remained challenging. Here, we use off-axis electron holography to record images of target skyrmions in a 160-nm-diameter nanodisk of the chiral magnet FeGe. We compare experimental measurements with numerical simulations, demonstrate switching between two stable degenerate target skyrmion ground states that have opposite polarities and rotation senses and discuss the observed switching mechanism.

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Fengshan Zheng, Hang Li, Shasha Wang, Dongsheng Song, Chiming Jin, Wenshen Wei, András Kovács, Jiadong Zang, Mingliang Tian, Yuheng Zhang, Haifeng Du, Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski. 2017-06-23. Direct imaging of a zero-field target skyrmion and its polarity switch in a chiral magnetic nanodisk. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.119.197205

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