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arXiv · 2007.10652

Electric-field-driven Non-volatile Multi-state Switching of Individual Skyrmions in a Multiferroic Heterostructure

Yadong Wang·Lei Wang·Jing Xia·Zhengxun Lai·Guo Tian·Xichao Zhang·Zhipeng Hou·Xingsen Gao·Wenbo Mi·Chun Feng·Min Zeng·Guofu Zhou·Guanghua Yu·Guangheng Wu·Yan Zhou·Wenhong Wang·Xi-xiang Zhang·Junming Liu
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Abstract

Electrical manipulation of skyrmions attracts considerable attention for its rich physics and promising applications. To date, such a manipulation is realized mainly via spin-polarized current based on spin-transfer torque or spin-orbital torque effect. However, this scheme is energy-consuming and may produce massive Joule heating. To reduce energy dissipation and risk of heightened temperatures of skyrmion-based devices, an effective solution is to use electric field instead of current as stimulus. Here, we realize an electric-field manipulation of skyrmions in a nanostructured ferromagnetic/ferroelectrical heterostructure at room temperature via an inverse magneto-mechanical effect. Intriguingly, such a manipulation is non-volatile and exhibits a multi-state feature. Numerical simulations indicate that the electric-field manipulation of skyrmions originates from strain-mediated modification of effective magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Our results open a direction for constructing low-energy-dissipation, non-volatile, and multi-state skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

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Yadong Wang, Lei Wang, Jing Xia, Zhengxun Lai, Guo Tian, Xichao Zhang, Zhipeng Hou, Xingsen Gao, Wenbo Mi, Chun Feng, Min Zeng, Guofu Zhou, Guanghua Yu, Guangheng Wu, Yan Zhou, Wenhong Wang, Xi-xiang Zhang, Junming Liu. 2020-07-21. Electric-field-driven Non-volatile Multi-state Switching of Individual Skyrmions in a Multiferroic Heterostructure. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17354-7

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