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The recent discovery of room-temperature ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals (vdW) materials, such as Fe3GaTe2 (FGaT), has garnered significant interest in offering a robust platform for 2D spintronic applications. Various fundamental operations essential for the realization of 2D spintronics devices are experimentally confirmed using these materials at room temperature, such as current-induced magnetization switching or tunneling magnetoresistance. Nevertheless, the potential applications of magnetic skyrmions in FGaT systems at room temperature remain unexplored. In this work, the current-induced generation of magnetic skyrmions in FGaT flakes employing high-resolution magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy is introduced, supported by a feasible mechanism based on thermal effects. Furthermore, direct observation of the current-induced magnetic skyrmion motion at room temperature in FGaT flakes is presented with ultra-low threshold current density. This work highlights the potential of FGaT as a foundation for room-temperature-operating 2D skyrmion device applications.

Manipulating the topological properties of spin textures in magnetic materials is of great interest due to the rich physics and promising technological applications of these materials in advanced electronic devices. A spin texture with desired topological properties can be created by magnetic monopole injection, resulting in topological transitions involving changes in the topological charge. Therefore, controlling magnetic monopole injection has paramount importance for obtaining the desired spin textures but has not yet been reported. Here, we report the use of reliably manipulated magnetic monopole injection in the topological transition from stripe domains to skyrmions in an Fe/Gd multilayer. An easily tunable in-plane magnetic field applied to an Fe/Gd multilayer plays a key role in the magnetic monopole injection by modulating the local exchange energy. Our findings facilitate the efficient management of topological transitions by providing an important method for controlling magnetic monopole injection.

Interfacially asymmetric magnetic multilayers made of heavy metal/ferromagnet have attracted considerable attention in the spintronics community for accommodating spin-orbit torques (SOTs) and meanwhile for hosting chiral spin textures. In these multilayers, the accompanied interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (iDMI) permits the formation of Néel-type spin textures. While significant progresses have been made in Co, CoFeB, Co2FeAl, CoFeGd based multilayers, it would be intriguing to identify new magnetic multilayers that could enable spin-torque controllability and meanwhile host nanoscale skyrmions. In this report, first, thin films made of permanent magnet SmCo5 with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are synthesized, in which the deterministic SOT switching, enabled by the spin Hall effect, in Pt/SmCo5/Ta trilayer is demonstrated. Further, the stabilization of room-temperature skyrmions with diameters ≈100 nm in [Pt/SmCo5/Ta]15, together with a skyrmionium-like spin texture in [Pt/SmCo5/Ir]15 multilayers is shown. Based on the material specific parameters, micromagnetic simulations are also carried out. The results confirm the presence of chiral spin textures in this new material family. Through interfacial engineering, the results thus demonstrate that rare earth permanent magnets could be a new platform for studying interfacial chiral spintronics.

We realize a magnetic skyrmion diode operated by a unidirectional skyrmion transport that flows in only one direction, which is highly significant for information processing in spintronic and nanoelectronic devices. We easily control the skyrmion transport by engineering asymmetric shapes of geometric structures. Here, we present a simple method to describe the underlying mechanism behind the unidirectional skyrmion transport by characterizing the topography of potential energy surfaces from a purely geometric perspective. Our approach enables a deeper physical insight into skyrmion transport manipulation and efficient design of skyrmion-based devices in geometric structures.

We have studied the effects of electrical current pulses on skyrmion formation in a series of Co/Ni/Pt-based multilayers. Transmission x-ray microscopy reveals that by applying electrical current pulses of duration and current density on the order of 50 μs and 1.7×1010A/m2, respectively, in an applied magnetic field of 50 mT, stripe-to-skyrmion transformations are attained. The skyrmions formed by such pulses remain stable across a wide range of magnetic fields, including zero field. We attribute the transformation primarily to current-induced Joule heating on the order of ∼128 K. Reducing the magnetic moment and perpendicular anisotropy using thin rare-earth spacers reduces the pulse duration, current density, and magnetic field necessary to 25 μs, 2.4×109A/m2, and 27 mT, respectively. These findings show that energetic inputs allow for the formation of skyrmion phases in a broad class of materials, and that material properties can be tuned to yield more energy-efficient access to skyrmion phases.

Magnetic skyrmions have captivated physicists due to their topological nature and novel physical properties. In addition, skyrmions hold significant promise for future information technologies. A key barrier to realizing skyrmion-based devices has been stabilizing these spin structures under ambient conditions. In this paper, we demonstrate that the tunable magnetic properties of amorphous Fe/Gd mulitlayers enable the formation of skyrmion lattices which are stable over a large temperature and magnetic field parameter space, including room temperature and zero magnetic field. These skyrmions, having a hybrid nature displaying both Bloch-type and Néel-type characteristics, are stabilized by dipolar interactions rather than Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, typically considered a requirement for the generation of skyrmions. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) was used in combination with soft x-ray microscopy to provide a unique, multiscale probe of the local and long-range order of these structures. The hexagonal lattice seen in SANS results from the hybrid skyrmion picture obtained with micromagnetic simulations. These results identify a pathway to engineer controllable skyrmion phases in thin film geometries which are stable at ambient conditions.

Nonvolatile logic networks based on spintronic and nanomagnetic technologies have the potential to create high-speed, ultralow power computational architectures. This article explores the feasibility of “chirality-encoded domain wall logic,” a nanomagnetic logic architecture where data are encoded by the chiral structures of mobile domain walls in networks of ferromagnetic nanowires and processed by the chiral structures' interactions with geometric features of the networks. High-resolution magnetic imaging is used to test two critical functionalities: the inversion of domain wall chirality at tailored artificial defect sites (logical NOT gates) and the chirality-selective output of domain walls from 2-in-1-out nanowire junctions (common operation to AND/NAND/OR/NOR gates). The measurements demonstrate both operations can be performed to a good degree of fidelity even in the presence of complex magnetization dynamics that would normally be expected to destroy chirality-encoded information. Together, these results represent a strong indication of the feasibility of devices where chiral magnetization textures are used to directly carry, rather than merely delineate, data.

Magnetic skyrmions promise breakthroughs in future memory and computing devices due to their inherent stability and small size. Their creation and current driven motion have been recently observed at room temperature, but the key mechanisms of their formation are not yet well-understood. Here it is shown that in heavy metal/ferromagnet heterostructures, pulsed currents can drive morphological transitions between labyrinth-like, stripe-like, and skyrmionic states. Using high-resolution X-ray microscopy, the spin texture evolution with temperature and magnetic field is imaged and it is demonstrated that with transient Joule heating, topological charges can be injected into the system, driving it across the stripe-skyrmion boundary. The observations are explained through atomistic spin dynamic and micromagnetic simulations that reveal a crossover to a global skyrmionic ground state above a threshold magnetic field, which is found to decrease with increasing temperature. It is demonstrated how by tuning the phase stability, one can reliably generate skyrmions by short current pulses and stabilize them at zero field, providing new means to create and manipulate spin textures in engineered chiral ferromagnets.

Magnetic skyrmions promise breakthroughs in future memory and computing devices due to their inherent stability and small size. Their creation and current driven motion have been recently observed at room temperature, but the key mechanisms of their formation are not yet well-understood. Here it is shown that in heavy metal/ferromagnet heterostructures, pulsed currents can drive morphological transitions between labyrinth-like, stripe-like, and skyrmionic states. Using high-resolution X-ray microscopy, the spin texture evolution with temperature and magnetic field is imaged and it is demonstrated that with transient Joule heating, topological charges can be injected into the system, driving it across the stripe-skyrmion boundary. The observations are explained through atomistic spin dynamic and micromagnetic simulations that reveal a crossover to a global skyrmionic ground state above a threshold magnetic field, which is found to decrease with increasing temperature. It is demonstrated how by tuning the phase stability, one can reliably generate skyrmions by short current pulses and stabilize them at zero field, providing new means to create and manipulate spin textures in engineered chiral ferromagnets.

We demonstrate deterministic control of dipole-field-stabilized skyrmions by means of spin-orbit torques arising from heavy transition-metal seed layers. Experiments are performed on amorphous Fe/Gd multilayers that are patterned into wires and exhibit stripe domains and dipole skyrmions at room temperature. We show that while the domain walls and skyrmions are achiral on average due to lack of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, the Néel-like closure domain walls at each surface are chiral and can couple to spin-orbit torques. The current-induced domain evolutions are reported for different magnetic phases, including disordered stripe domains, coexisting stripes and dipole skyrmions, and a close-packed dipole skyrmion lattice. The magnetic textures exhibit motion under current excitations with a current density ∼108A/m2. By comparing the motion resulting from magnetic spin textures in Fe/Gd films with different heavy transition-metal interfaces, we confirm spin currents can be used to manipulate achiral dipole skyrmions via spin-orbit torques. We further show the current-induced response of a dipole skyrmion lattice where skyrmions move in channels between pinned regions.

At the interface between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases, various spin configurations with a higher degrees of complexity than in the bulk states can be derived due to the diverse possible interface atomic structures, where coupling interactions among the constituting atoms can form in consistence with altered atomic configurations. The interface magnetic properties then depend on the collective behavior of such spin structures. In the present work, an extended interfacial configuration of a hypo-oxide state was prepared by establishing the gradient of oxygen concentration across the spatially diffuse interface region between ferromagnetic metallic and antiferromagnetic oxide phases at the nanometer scale. With these mixed ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic couplings among the atoms in the interfacial hypo- or sub-oxide state, novel magnetic behavior can be induced. We report here, for the first time, a significant increase of saturation magnetization with temperature over a broad temperature range, which is against the conventional expectation for any generally known magnetic materials. And the unusual temperature dependent behavior can be understood as the combined effects of competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic couplings acting on atoms in and near the interface region.

At the interface between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases, various spin configurations with a higher degrees of complexity than in the bulk states can be derived due to the diverse possible interface atomic structures, where coupling interactions among the constituting atoms can form in consistence with altered atomic configurations. The interface magnetic properties then depend on the collective behavior of such spin structures. In the present work, an extended interfacial configuration of a hypo-oxide state was prepared by establishing the gradient of oxygen concentration across the spatially diffuse interface region between ferromagnetic metallic and antiferromagnetic oxide phases at the nanometer scale. With these mixed ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic couplings among the atoms in the interfacial hypo- or sub-oxide state, novel magnetic behavior can be induced. We report here, for the first time, a significant increase of saturation magnetization with temperature over a broad temperature range, which is against the conventional expectation for any generally known magnetic materials. And the unusual temperature dependent behavior can be understood as the combined effects of competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic couplings acting on atoms in and near the interface region.

Dynamic switching of the vortex circulation in magnetic nanodisks by fast-rising magnetic field pulse requires annihilation of the vortex core at the disk boundary and reforming a new vortex with the opposite sense of circulation. Here we study the influence of pulse parameters on the dynamics and efficiency of the vortex core annihilation in permalloy (Ni80Fe20) nanodisks. We use magnetic transmission soft x-ray microscopy to experimentally determine a pulse rise time-pulse amplitude phase diagram for vortex circulation switching and investigate the time-resolved evolution of magnetization in different regions of the phase diagram. The experimental phase diagram is compared with an analytical model based on Thiele's equation describing high-amplitude vortex core motion in a parabolic potential. We find that the analytical model is in good agreement with experimental data for a wide range of disk geometries. From the analytical model and in accordance with our experimental finding we determine the geometrical condition for dynamic vortex core annihilation and pulse parameters needed for the most efficient and fastest circulation switching. The comparison of our experimental results with micromagnetic simulations shows that the micromagnetic simulations of "ideal" disks with diameters larger than ∼250 nm overestimate nonlinearities in susceptibility and eigenfrequency. This overestimation leads to the core polarity switching near the disk boundary, which then in disagreement with experimental findings prevents the core annihilation and circulation switching. We modify the micromagnetic simulations by introducing the "boundary region" of reduced magnetization to simulate the experimentally determined susceptibility and in these modified micromagnetic simulations we are able to reproduce the experimentally observed dynamic vortex core annihilation and circulation switching.