Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions
Abstract Magnetic skyrmions have raised high hopes for future spintronic devices. For many applications, it would be of great advantage to have more than one metastable particle-like texture available. The coexistence of skyrmions and antiskyrmions has been proposed in inversion-symmetric magnets wi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
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| Series: | npj Quantum Materials |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-023-00586-3 |
| _version_ | 1797453997404061696 |
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| author | Moritz A. Goerzen Stephan von Malottki Sebastian Meyer Pavel F. Bessarab Stefan Heinze |
| author_facet | Moritz A. Goerzen Stephan von Malottki Sebastian Meyer Pavel F. Bessarab Stefan Heinze |
| author_sort | Moritz A. Goerzen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Magnetic skyrmions have raised high hopes for future spintronic devices. For many applications, it would be of great advantage to have more than one metastable particle-like texture available. The coexistence of skyrmions and antiskyrmions has been proposed in inversion-symmetric magnets with exchange frustration. However, so far only model systems have been studied and the lifetime of coexisting metastable topological spin structures has not been obtained. Here, we predict that skyrmions and antiskyrmions with diameters below 10 nm can coexist at zero magnetic field in a Rh/Co bilayer on the Ir(111) surface—an experimentally feasible system. We show that the lifetimes of metastable skyrmions and antiskyrmions in the ferromagnetic ground state are above one hour for temperatures up to 75 and 48 K, respectively. The entropic contribution to the nucleation and annihilation rates differs for skyrmions and antiskyrmions. This opens the route to the thermally activated creation of coexisting skyrmions and antiskyrmions in frustrated magnets with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:30:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1dd016a6952c414e8a9eeece2fe7841f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2397-4648 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:30:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Quantum Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-1dd016a6952c414e8a9eeece2fe7841f2023-11-26T12:15:15ZengNature Portfolionpj Quantum Materials2397-46482023-10-018111310.1038/s41535-023-00586-3Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmionsMoritz A. Goerzen0Stephan von Malottki1Sebastian Meyer2Pavel F. Bessarab3Stefan Heinze4Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of KielInstitute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of KielInstitute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of KielScience Institute, University of IcelandInstitute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of KielAbstract Magnetic skyrmions have raised high hopes for future spintronic devices. For many applications, it would be of great advantage to have more than one metastable particle-like texture available. The coexistence of skyrmions and antiskyrmions has been proposed in inversion-symmetric magnets with exchange frustration. However, so far only model systems have been studied and the lifetime of coexisting metastable topological spin structures has not been obtained. Here, we predict that skyrmions and antiskyrmions with diameters below 10 nm can coexist at zero magnetic field in a Rh/Co bilayer on the Ir(111) surface—an experimentally feasible system. We show that the lifetimes of metastable skyrmions and antiskyrmions in the ferromagnetic ground state are above one hour for temperatures up to 75 and 48 K, respectively. The entropic contribution to the nucleation and annihilation rates differs for skyrmions and antiskyrmions. This opens the route to the thermally activated creation of coexisting skyrmions and antiskyrmions in frustrated magnets with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-023-00586-3 |
| spellingShingle | Moritz A. Goerzen Stephan von Malottki Sebastian Meyer Pavel F. Bessarab Stefan Heinze Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions npj Quantum Materials |
| title | Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| title_full | Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| title_fullStr | Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| title_short | Lifetime of coexisting sub-10 nm zero-field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| title_sort | lifetime of coexisting sub 10 nm zero field skyrmions and antiskyrmions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-023-00586-3 |
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