Tailoring magnetic skyrmions in ultra-thin transition metal films

[en] Skyrmions in magnetic materials offer attractive perspectives for future spintronic applications since they are topologically stabilized spin structures on the nanometre scale, which can be manipulated with electric current densities that are by orders of magnitude lower than those required for moving domain walls. So far, they were restricted to bulk magnets with a particular chiral crystal symmetry greatly limiting the number of available systems and the adjustability of their properties. Recently, it has been experimentally discovered that magnetic skyrmion phases can also occur in ultra-thin transition metal films at surfaces. Here we present an understanding of skyrmions in such systems based on first-principles electronic structure theory. We demonstrate that the properties of magnetic skyrmions at transition metal interfaces such as their diameter and their stability can be tuned by the structure and composition of the interface and that a description beyond a micromagnetic model is required in such systems.

Disciplines :

Physics

Author, co-author :

Dupé, Bertrand ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de physique > Physique des matériaux et nanostructures

Hoffmann, Markus

Paillard, Charles

Heinze, Stefan

Language :

English

Title :

Tailoring magnetic skyrmions in ultra-thin transition metal films

Publication date :

2014

Journal title :

Nature Communications

eISSN :

2041-1723

Publisher :

Nature Publishing Group

Volume :

Issue :

May

Pages :

4030

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/ncomms5030

Available on ORBi :

since 15 January 2020

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Scopus citations^®

217

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

177

OpenCitations

200

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