Ferroelectrically tunable magnetic skyrmions in ultrathin oxide heterostructures

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected whirling spin texture. Their nanoscale dimensions, topologically protected stability and solitonic nature, together are promising for future spintronics applications. To translate these compelling features into practical spintronic devices, a key challe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature materials 2018-12, Vol.17 (12), p.1087-1094
Main Authors: Wang, Lingfei, Feng, Qiyuan, Kim, Yoonkoo, Kim, Rokyeon, Lee, Ki Hoon, Pollard, Shawn D, Shin, Yeong Jae, Zhou, Haibiao, Peng, Wei, Lee, Daesu, Meng, Wenjie, Yang, Hyunsoo, Han, Jung Hoon, Kim, Miyoung, Lu, Qingyou, Noh, Tae Won
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barium titanates
Bilayers
Control stability
Density
Electrons
Ferroelectric materials
Ferroelectricity
Heterostructures
Hypothetical particles
Particle theory
Proximity effect (electricity)
Spintronics
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Summary:Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected whirling spin texture. Their nanoscale dimensions, topologically protected stability and solitonic nature, together are promising for future spintronics applications. To translate these compelling features into practical spintronic devices, a key challenge lies in achieving effective control of skyrmion properties, such as size, density and thermodynamic stability. Here, we report the discovery of ferroelectrically tunable skyrmions in ultrathin BaTiO /SrRuO bilayer heterostructures. The ferroelectric proximity effect at the BaTiO /SrRuO heterointerface triggers a sizeable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, thus stabilizing robust skyrmions with diameters less than a hundred nanometres. Moreover, by manipulating the ferroelectric polarization of the BaTiO layer, we achieve local, switchable and nonvolatile control of both skyrmion density and thermodynamic stability. This ferroelectrically tunable skyrmion system can simultaneously enhance the integratability and addressability of skyrmion-based functional devices.
ISSN:1476-1122
1476-4660
DOI:10.1038/s41563-018-0204-4