Fast current-induced skyrmion motion in synthetic antiferromagnets

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets can be driven at high speeds up to 900 m/s with minimal transverse motion, overcoming previous velocity and Hall effect limitations.

Contribution

It introduces a method to move skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets at high velocities by canceling the topological charge, reducing the skyrmion Hall effect.

Findings

Skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets reach velocities of 900 m/s.

Cancellation of topological charge suppresses the skyrmion Hall effect.

Potential for high-speed skyrmion-based memory and logic devices.

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topological magnetic textures that hold great promise as nanoscale bits of information in memory and logic devices. Although room-temperature ferromagnetic skyrmions and their current-induced manipulation have been demonstrated, their velocity has been limited to about 100 meters per second. In addition, their dynamics are perturbed by the skyrmion Hall effect, a motion transverse to the current direction caused by the skyrmion topological charge. Here, we show that skyrmions in compensated synthetic antiferromagnets can be moved by current along the current direction at velocities of up to 900 meters per second. This can be explained by the cancellation of the net topological charge leading to a vanishing skyrmion Hall effect. Our results open an important path toward the realization of logic and memory devices based on the fast manipulation of skyrmions in tracks.