In situ Electric Field Skyrmion Creation in Magnetoelectric Cu$_2$OSeO$_3$

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the local creation of magnetic skyrmions in the magnetoelectric material Cu₂OSeO₃ using electric fields, advancing skyrmion-based spintronic technology with potential low-energy applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to create skyrmions in situ via electric fields in a magnetoelectric material, enabling integration into electronic devices.

Findings

Skyrmions can be written locally using electric fields.

Lorentz transmission electron microscopy confirms skyrmion creation.

Potential for low-energy spintronic applications.

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are localized nanometric spin textures with quantized winding numbers as the topological invariant. Rapidly increasing attention has been paid to the investigations of skyrmions since their experimental discovery in 2009, due both to the fundamental properties and the promising potential in spintronics based applications. However, controlled creation of skyrmions remains a pivotal challenge towards technological applications. Here, we report that skyrmions can be created locally by electric field in the magnetoelectric helimagnet Cu$\mathsf{_2}$OSeO$\mathsf{_3}$. Using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we successfully write skyrmions in situ from a helical spin background. Our discovery is highly coveted since it implies that skyrmionics can be integrated into contemporary field effect transistor based electronic technology, where very low energy dissipation can be achieved, and hence realizes a large step forward to its practical applications.