Realization of ground-state artificial skyrmion lattices at room temperature

Dustin A. Gilbert, Brian B. Maranville, Andrew L. Balk, Brian J. Kirby, Peter Fischer, Daniel T. Pierce, John Unguris, Julie A. Borchers and Kai Liu ()
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Dustin A. Gilbert: University of California
Brian B. Maranville: NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Andrew L. Balk: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Brian J. Kirby: NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Peter Fischer: Center for X-Ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Daniel T. Pierce: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology
John Unguris: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Julie A. Borchers: NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Kai Liu: University of California

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The topological nature of magnetic skyrmions leads to extraordinary properties that provide new insights into fundamental problems of magnetism and exciting potentials for novel magnetic technologies. Prerequisite are systems exhibiting skyrmion lattices at ambient conditions, which have been elusive so far. Here, we demonstrate the realization of artificial Bloch skyrmion lattices over extended areas in their ground state at room temperature by patterning asymmetric magnetic nanodots with controlled circularity on an underlayer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Polarity is controlled by a tailored magnetic field sequence and demonstrated in magnetometry measurements. The vortex structure is imprinted from the dots into the interfacial region of the underlayer via suppression of the PMA by a critical ion-irradiation step. The imprinted skyrmion lattices are identified directly with polarized neutron reflectometry and confirmed by magnetoresistance measurements. Our results demonstrate an exciting platform to explore room-temperature ground-state skyrmion lattices.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9462

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