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Edge-guided heart-shaped skyrmion

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Magnetic skyrmion, which is a kind of swirl-like topological protected spin structure, shows great potential in the racetrack memory. So far, this progress is in obstacle by the skyrmion Hall effect which means that the direction of skyrmion motion will deviate from the driving direction. In our work, based on the hybrid skyrmion, we propose a new way to solve the deviation problem. Instead of the acquirement of great nanotechnology to confine the skyrmion in the one-dimensional (1D) potential well, the hybrid skyrmion in a three-layer film can also be guided by only an edge formed through etching the surface layer. The edge will provide a local spatial asymmetry for the skyrmion. This asymmetry can both constrain the skyrmion to a heart shape and equilibrate the moving skyrmion to the etched line. Further simulations confirm that the heart-shaped skyrmion is also available in the multi-racetrack memory. It is thinked that our proposal might be another efficient method to help to solve the skyrmion Hall effect, and the study might be able to contribute to the skyrmion-based device.

Graphic abstract

摘要

磁斯格明子是一种涡旋状受拓扑保护的自旋结构, 它极有希望应用于赛道存储器中。但斯格明子在运动过程中存在斯格明子霍尔效应, 即运动方向偏离驱动电流方向, 这使得磁斯格明子赛道存储器的研究受到严重制约。基于以往混合斯格明子的研究, 我们在本文提供了一种解决斯格明子霍尔效应的新思路。在传统思路中, 人们往往需要使用极高精度的纳米加工技术来刻蚀极窄的一维势阱, 以控制斯格明子运动。但我们的研究发现, 在三层膜结构中, 当其表层(氧化层)被刻蚀后, 混合斯格明子的运动轨迹由刻蚀后得到的边缘所引导。边缘的存在使得空间上出现了不对称性, 这种不对称性不仅使得斯格明子被扭曲为心形, 也迫使运动中的斯格明子平衡在边缘下方。进一步的模拟证明, 这种心形斯格明子也可以应用于多轨复合的赛道存储器中。本研究为解决斯格明子霍尔效应提供了一个新的思路, 为斯格明子自旋电子学器件的研究做出了一些贡献。

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Scientific Fund of China (Nos. 51771086 and 12074158) and the Program of the Ministry of Education of China for Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (No. B20063).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Chun-Lei Zhang, Jia-Ning Wang, Cheng-Kun Song, Nasir Mehmood, Zhao-Zhuo Zeng, Yun-Xu Ma, Jian-Bo Wang & Qing-Fang Liu

  2. Key Laboratory for Special Function Materials and Structural Design of the Ministry of the Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jian-Bo Wang

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  1. Chun-Lei Zhang
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Zhang, CL., Wang, JN., Song, CK. et al. Edge-guided heart-shaped skyrmion. Rare Met. 41, 865–870 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-021-01844-8

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