arXiv · 2111.14357
Nano-engineering the evolution of skyrmion crystal in synthetic antiferromagnets
Abstract
The evolution of skyrmion crystal encapsulates skyrmion critical behaviors, such as nucleation, deformation and annihilation. Here, we achieve a tunable evolution of artificial skyrmion crystal in nanostructured synthetic antiferromagnet multilayers, which are comprised of perpendicular magnetic multilayers and nanopatterned arrays of magnetic nanodots. The out-of-plane magnetization hysteresis loops and first-order reversal curves show that the nucleation and annihilation of the artificial skyrmion can be controlled by tuning the diameter of and spacing between the nanodots. Moreover, when the bottom layer thickness increases, the annihilation of skyrmion shifts from evolving into a ferromagnetic spin texture to evolving into an antiferromagnetic spin texture. Most significantly, non-volatile multiple states are realized at zero magnetic field via controlling the proportion of the annihilated skyrmions in the skyrmion crystal. Our results demonstrate the tunability and flexibility of the artificial skyrmion platform, providing a promising route to achieve skyrmion-based multistate devices, such as neuromorphic spintronic devices.
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Mangyuan Ma, Ke Huang, Yong Li, Sihua Li, Qiyuan Feng, Calvin Ching Ian Ang, Tianli Jin, Yalin Lu, Qingyou Lu, Wen Siang Lew, Fusheng Ma, X. Renshaw Wang. 2021-11-29. Nano-engineering the evolution of skyrmion crystal in synthetic antiferromagnets. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0081455
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