Ordered creation and motion of skyrmions with surface acoustic wave

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the ordered creation and controlled motion of magnetic skyrmions with minimal Hall effect using surface acoustic waves, advancing skyrmion manipulation for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of embedding [Co/Pd] multilayers into a SAW delay line to achieve organized skyrmion generation and motion with negligible SkHE in ferromagnets.

Findings

Ordered generation of magnetic skyrmions achieved

Skyrmion motion with negligible Hall effect observed

Surface acoustic waves enable energy redistribution facilitating control

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions with a well-defined spin texture have shown unprecedented potential for various spintronic applications owning to their topologically non-trivial and quasiparticle properties. To put skyrmions into practical technology, efficient manipulation, especially the inhibition of skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) has been intensively pursued. In spite of the recent progress made on reducing SkHE in several substituted systems, such as ferrimagnets and synthetic antiferromagnets, the organized creation and current driven motion of skyrmions with negligible SkHE in ferromagnets remain challenging. Here, by embeding the [Co/Pd] multilayer into a surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay line, we experimentally realized the ordered generation of magnetic skyrmions. The resultant current-induced skyrmions movement with negligible SkHE was observed, which can be attributed to the energy redistribution of the system during the excitation of SAW. Our findings open up an unprecedentedly new perspective for manipulating topological solitons, and would advance the development of skyrmionics and spin acousto-electronics.