Electric-field-driven non-volatile multi-state switching of individual skyrmions in a multiferroic heterostructure

Abstract

Electrical manipulation of skyrmions attracts considerable attention for its rich physics and promising applications. To date, such a manipulation is realized mainly via spin-polarized current based on spin-transfer torque or spin-orbital torque effect. However, this scheme is energy-consuming and may produce massive Joule heating. To reduce energy dissipation and risk of heightened temperatures of skyrmion-based devices, an effective solution is to use electric field instead of current as stimulus. Here, we realize an electric-field manipulation of skyrmions in a nanostructured ferromagnetic/ferroelectrical heterostructure at room temperature via an inverse magneto-mechanical effect. Intriguingly, such a manipulation is non-volatile and exhibits a multi-state feature. Numerical simulations indicate that the electric-field manipulation of skyrmions originates from strain-mediated modification of effective magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Our results open a direction for constructing low-energy-dissipation, non-volatile, and multi-state skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

Spontaneous Topological Magnetic Transitions in NdCo5 Rare‐Earth Magnets

“…Owing to the complex phase transition, further theoretical studies are needed to explore the fundamental origin of spontaneous topological spin textures in NdCo 5 . The comprehensive demonstration of the size effects on the magnetic domain structures in nano-dots [42] patterned multilayer anticipate systematic studies in manipulating the skyrmions and EIPDs by altering the thickness and diameter of the patterned structures in NdCo 5 alloys. Our findings open up a new pathway for further experimental and theoretical studies of topological spin structures and particular generation mechanisms in rare-earth magnets.…”

Electric-field control of skyrmions in multiferroic heterostructure via magnetoelectric coupling

“…Note added to proof. After submission of this work and during the period of preparation for the response to the reviewers' comments, an article reporting study on electric-field control of skyrmions in multiferroic ferromagnetic/ferroelectric nanostructures 56 has appeared. We focus on skyrmions in continuous thin films, while they focus on nanopatterned confined skyrmions and the behaviors of the skyrmions in these two cases are different.…”

Vortex structure in magnetic nanodots: Dipolar interaction, mobile spin model, phase transition and melting

“…An application device one can imagine is a, array of dots with horizontal lines are the bit lines and vertical lines are the word lines, similarly to what proposed in Ref. [40] using array of dots of skyrmions. The present system represents a considerable advantage: small dot size (just a few dozen of spins) and an extremely small magnetic field to operate.…”