Room-Temperature Creation and Spin-Orbit Torque Manipulation of Skyrmions in Thin Films with Engineered Asymmetry

Guoqiang Yu; Pramey Upadhyaya; Xiang Li; Wenyuan Li; Se Kwon Kim; Yabin Fan; Kin L. Wong; Yaroslav Tserkovnyak; Pedram Khalili Amiri; Kang L. Wang

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05257

Room-Temperature Creation and Spin-Orbit Torque Manipulation of Skyrmions in Thin Films with Engineered Asymmetry

Guoqiang Yu, Pramey Upadhyaya, Xiang Li, Wenyuan Li, Se Kwon Kim, Yabin Fan, Kin L. Wong, Yaroslav Tserkovnyak, Pedram Khalili Amiri^*, Kang L. Wang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

284 Scopus citations

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions, which are topologically protected spin textures, are promising candidates for ultralow-energy and ultrahigh-density magnetic data storage and computing applications. To date, most experiments on skyrmions have been carried out at low temperatures. The choice of available materials is limited, and there is a lack of electrical means to control skyrmions in devices. In this work, we demonstrate a new method for creating a stable skyrmion bubble phase in the CoFeB-MgO material system at room temperature, by engineering the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layer. Importantly, we also demonstrate that artificially engineered symmetry breaking gives rise to a force acting on the skyrmions, in addition to the current-induced spin-orbit torque, which can be used to drive their motion. This room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions offers new possibilities to engineer skyrmionic devices. The results bring skyrmionic memory and logic concepts closer to realization in industrially relevant and manufacturable thin film material systems.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1981-1988
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nano letters
Volume	16
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05257
State	Published - Mar 9 2016

Funding

This work was partially supported by the Energy Frontier Research Center for Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES). This work was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), and in part by the FAME Center, one of six centers of the Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research network (STARnet), a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) program sponsored by the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation (MARCO), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). We would like to acknowledge the collaboration of this research with the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) via The Center of Excellence for Green Nanotechnologies (CEGN). The authors thank W. J. Jiang for valuable discussions.

Keywords

Skyrmion
room temperature
spin-orbit torque
symmetry breaking
thin films

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Condensed Matter Physics
Mechanical Engineering
Bioengineering
General Chemistry
General Materials Science

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05257

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title = "Room-Temperature Creation and Spin-Orbit Torque Manipulation of Skyrmions in Thin Films with Engineered Asymmetry",

abstract = "Magnetic skyrmions, which are topologically protected spin textures, are promising candidates for ultralow-energy and ultrahigh-density magnetic data storage and computing applications. To date, most experiments on skyrmions have been carried out at low temperatures. The choice of available materials is limited, and there is a lack of electrical means to control skyrmions in devices. In this work, we demonstrate a new method for creating a stable skyrmion bubble phase in the CoFeB-MgO material system at room temperature, by engineering the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layer. Importantly, we also demonstrate that artificially engineered symmetry breaking gives rise to a force acting on the skyrmions, in addition to the current-induced spin-orbit torque, which can be used to drive their motion. This room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions offers new possibilities to engineer skyrmionic devices. The results bring skyrmionic memory and logic concepts closer to realization in industrially relevant and manufacturable thin film material systems.",

keywords = "Skyrmion, room temperature, spin-orbit torque, symmetry breaking, thin films",

author = "Guoqiang Yu and Pramey Upadhyaya and Xiang Li and Wenyuan Li and Kim, {Se Kwon} and Yabin Fan and Wong, {Kin L.} and Yaroslav Tserkovnyak and Amiri, {Pedram Khalili} and Wang, {Kang L.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was partially supported by the Energy Frontier Research Center for Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES). This work was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), and in part by the FAME Center, one of six centers of the Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research network (STARnet), a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) program sponsored by the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation (MARCO), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). We would like to acknowledge the collaboration of this research with the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) via The Center of Excellence for Green Nanotechnologies (CEGN). The authors thank W. J. Jiang for valuable discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 American Chemical Society.",

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doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05257",

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T1 - Room-Temperature Creation and Spin-Orbit Torque Manipulation of Skyrmions in Thin Films with Engineered Asymmetry

AU - Yu, Guoqiang

AU - Upadhyaya, Pramey

AU - Li, Xiang

AU - Li, Wenyuan

AU - Kim, Se Kwon

AU - Fan, Yabin

AU - Wong, Kin L.

AU - Tserkovnyak, Yaroslav

AU - Amiri, Pedram Khalili

AU - Wang, Kang L.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was partially supported by the Energy Frontier Research Center for Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES). This work was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), and in part by the FAME Center, one of six centers of the Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research network (STARnet), a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) program sponsored by the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation (MARCO), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). We would like to acknowledge the collaboration of this research with the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) via The Center of Excellence for Green Nanotechnologies (CEGN). The authors thank W. J. Jiang for valuable discussions. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 American Chemical Society.

PY - 2016/3/9

Y1 - 2016/3/9

N2 - Magnetic skyrmions, which are topologically protected spin textures, are promising candidates for ultralow-energy and ultrahigh-density magnetic data storage and computing applications. To date, most experiments on skyrmions have been carried out at low temperatures. The choice of available materials is limited, and there is a lack of electrical means to control skyrmions in devices. In this work, we demonstrate a new method for creating a stable skyrmion bubble phase in the CoFeB-MgO material system at room temperature, by engineering the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layer. Importantly, we also demonstrate that artificially engineered symmetry breaking gives rise to a force acting on the skyrmions, in addition to the current-induced spin-orbit torque, which can be used to drive their motion. This room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions offers new possibilities to engineer skyrmionic devices. The results bring skyrmionic memory and logic concepts closer to realization in industrially relevant and manufacturable thin film material systems.

AB - Magnetic skyrmions, which are topologically protected spin textures, are promising candidates for ultralow-energy and ultrahigh-density magnetic data storage and computing applications. To date, most experiments on skyrmions have been carried out at low temperatures. The choice of available materials is limited, and there is a lack of electrical means to control skyrmions in devices. In this work, we demonstrate a new method for creating a stable skyrmion bubble phase in the CoFeB-MgO material system at room temperature, by engineering the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layer. Importantly, we also demonstrate that artificially engineered symmetry breaking gives rise to a force acting on the skyrmions, in addition to the current-induced spin-orbit torque, which can be used to drive their motion. This room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions offers new possibilities to engineer skyrmionic devices. The results bring skyrmionic memory and logic concepts closer to realization in industrially relevant and manufacturable thin film material systems.

KW - Skyrmion

KW - room temperature

KW - spin-orbit torque

KW - symmetry breaking

KW - thin films

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SN - 1530-6984

VL - 16

SP - 1981

EP - 1988

JO - Nano letters

JF - Nano letters

IS - 3

ER -

Room-Temperature Creation and Spin-Orbit Torque Manipulation of Skyrmions in Thin Films with Engineered Asymmetry

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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