Relaxation Dynamics of Zero-Field Skyrmions over a Wide Temperature Range

Licong Peng; Ying Zhang; Liqin Ke; Tae Hoon Kim; Qiang Zheng; Jiaqiang Yan; X. G. Zhang; Yang Gao; Shouguo Wang; Jianwang Cai; Baogen Shen; Robert J. McQueeney; Adam Kaminski; Matthew J. Kramer; Lin Zhou

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03553

Relaxation Dynamics of Zero-Field Skyrmions over a Wide Temperature Range

Licong Peng
, Ying Zhang
, Liqin Ke
, Tae Hoon Kim
, Qiang Zheng
, Jiaqiang Yan
, X. G. Zhang
, Yang Gao
, Shouguo Wang
, Jianwang Cai
, Baogen Shen
, Robert J. McQueeney
, Adam Kaminski
, Matthew J. Kramer
, Lin Zhou

Correlated Electron Materials

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

The promise of magnetic skyrmions in future spintronic devices hinges on their topologically enhanced stability and the ability to be manipulated by external fields. The technological advantages of nonvolatile zero-field skyrmion lattice (SkL) are significant if their stability and reliability can be demonstrated over a broad temperature range. Here, we study the relaxation dynamics including the evolution and lifetime of zero-field skyrmions generated from field cooling (FC) in an FeGe single-crystal plate via in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM). Three types of dynamic switching between zero-field skyrmions and stripes are identified and distinguished. Moreover, the generation and annihilation of these metastable skyrmions can be tailored during and after FC by varying the magnetic fields and the temperature. This dynamic relaxation behavior under the external fields provides a new understanding of zero-field skyrmions for their stability and reliability in spintronic applications and also raises new questions for theoretical models of skyrmion systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	7777-7783
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	18
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03553
State	Published - Dec 12 2018

Funding

We are grateful to S. Z. Lin, Z. Y. Meng, J. Lu, and T. Y. Zhao for their fruitful discussions. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds through Ames Laboratory, National Natural Science Foundation of China (11874408, 51590880, 51431009, and 51625101), and Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS, 2015004. The authors would like to thank Matt Lynn for TEM sample preparation. All TEM-related work was performed using instruments in the Sensitive Instrument Facility in Ames Laboratory. Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under contract no. DE-AC02-07CH11358.

Keywords

FeGe
L-TEM
Relaxation dynamics
activation energy
field cooling (FC)
zero-field skyrmions

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03553

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title = "Relaxation Dynamics of Zero-Field Skyrmions over a Wide Temperature Range",

abstract = "The promise of magnetic skyrmions in future spintronic devices hinges on their topologically enhanced stability and the ability to be manipulated by external fields. The technological advantages of nonvolatile zero-field skyrmion lattice (SkL) are significant if their stability and reliability can be demonstrated over a broad temperature range. Here, we study the relaxation dynamics including the evolution and lifetime of zero-field skyrmions generated from field cooling (FC) in an FeGe single-crystal plate via in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM). Three types of dynamic switching between zero-field skyrmions and stripes are identified and distinguished. Moreover, the generation and annihilation of these metastable skyrmions can be tailored during and after FC by varying the magnetic fields and the temperature. This dynamic relaxation behavior under the external fields provides a new understanding of zero-field skyrmions for their stability and reliability in spintronic applications and also raises new questions for theoretical models of skyrmion systems.",

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AU - Yan, Jiaqiang

AU - Zhang, X. G.

AU - Gao, Yang

AU - Wang, Shouguo

AU - Cai, Jianwang

AU - Shen, Baogen

AU - McQueeney, Robert J.

AU - Kaminski, Adam

AU - Kramer, Matthew J.

AU - Zhou, Lin

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N2 - The promise of magnetic skyrmions in future spintronic devices hinges on their topologically enhanced stability and the ability to be manipulated by external fields. The technological advantages of nonvolatile zero-field skyrmion lattice (SkL) are significant if their stability and reliability can be demonstrated over a broad temperature range. Here, we study the relaxation dynamics including the evolution and lifetime of zero-field skyrmions generated from field cooling (FC) in an FeGe single-crystal plate via in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM). Three types of dynamic switching between zero-field skyrmions and stripes are identified and distinguished. Moreover, the generation and annihilation of these metastable skyrmions can be tailored during and after FC by varying the magnetic fields and the temperature. This dynamic relaxation behavior under the external fields provides a new understanding of zero-field skyrmions for their stability and reliability in spintronic applications and also raises new questions for theoretical models of skyrmion systems.

AB - The promise of magnetic skyrmions in future spintronic devices hinges on their topologically enhanced stability and the ability to be manipulated by external fields. The technological advantages of nonvolatile zero-field skyrmion lattice (SkL) are significant if their stability and reliability can be demonstrated over a broad temperature range. Here, we study the relaxation dynamics including the evolution and lifetime of zero-field skyrmions generated from field cooling (FC) in an FeGe single-crystal plate via in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM). Three types of dynamic switching between zero-field skyrmions and stripes are identified and distinguished. Moreover, the generation and annihilation of these metastable skyrmions can be tailored during and after FC by varying the magnetic fields and the temperature. This dynamic relaxation behavior under the external fields provides a new understanding of zero-field skyrmions for their stability and reliability in spintronic applications and also raises new questions for theoretical models of skyrmion systems.

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Relaxation Dynamics of Zero-Field Skyrmions over a Wide Temperature Range

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