Current-Induced Helicity Reversal of a Single Skyrmionic Bubble Chain in a Nanostructured Frustrated Magnet

Zhipeng Hou; Qiang Zhang; Xichao Zhang; Guizhou Xu; Jing Xia; Bei Ding; Hang Li; Senfu Zhang; Nitin M Batra; Pedro M F J Costa; Enke Liu; Guangheng Wu; Motohiko Ezawa; Xiaoxi Liu; Yan Zhou; Xixiang Zhang; Wenhong Wang

doi:10.1002/adma.201904815

Current-Induced Helicity Reversal of a Single Skyrmionic Bubble Chain in a Nanostructured Frustrated Magnet

Adv Mater. 2020 Jan;32(1):e1904815. doi: 10.1002/adma.201904815. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

Authors

Zhipeng Hou^{1

2}, Qiang Zhang³, Xichao Zhang⁴, Guizhou Xu⁵, Jing Xia⁴, Bei Ding¹, Hang Li¹, Senfu Zhang³, Nitin M Batra³, Pedro M F J Costa³, Enke Liu¹, Guangheng Wu¹, Motohiko Ezawa⁶, Xiaoxi Liu⁷, Yan Zhou⁴, Xixiang Zhang³, Wenhong Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
² Institute for Advanced Materials, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
³ Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518172, China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China.
⁶ Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan.
⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano, 380-8553, Japan.

PMID: 31746047
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201904815

Abstract

Helicity indicates the in-plane magnetic-moment swirling direction of a skyrmionic configuration. The ability to reverse the helicity of a skyrmionic bubble via purely electrical means has been predicted in frustrated magnetic systems; however, it has been challenging to observe this experimentally. The current-driven helicity reversal of the skyrmionic bubble in a nanostructured frustrated Fe₃ Sn₂ magnet is experimentally demonstrated. The critical current density required to trigger the helicity reversal is 10⁹ -10¹⁰ A m^-2 , with a corresponding pulse-width varying from 1 µs to 100 ns. Computational simulations reveal that both the pinning effect and dipole-dipole interaction play a crucial role in the helicity reversal process.

Keywords: current-induced helicity reversal; frustrated magnets; skyrmions; spin-polarized current.

Abstract

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