Observation of room temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin Co films

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in ultrathin ferromagnetic films, demonstrating their generation and manipulation using current pulses, advancing potential spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of room-temperature skyrmions in ultrathin transition metal films and demonstrates their current-driven dynamics.

Findings

Stable skyrmions observed at room temperature.

Generation of skyrmion lattices and manipulation with current pulses.

Experimental validation of theoretical predictions.

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically-protected spin textures that exhibit fascinating physical behaviors and large potential in highly energy efficient spintronic device applications. The main obstacles so far are that skyrmions have been observed in only a few exotic materials and at low temperatures, and manipulation of individual skyrmions has not yet been achieved. Here, we report the observation of stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in ultrathin transition metal ferromagnets with magnetic transmission soft x-ray microscopy. We demonstrate the ability to generate stable skyrmion lattices and drive trains of individual skyrmions by short current pulses along a magnetic racetrack. Our findings provide experimental evidence of recent predictions and open the door to room-temperature skyrmion spintronics in robust thin-film heterostructures.