Emergence of multiple topological spin textures in an all-magnetic van der Waals heterostructure

TL;DR

This study predicts the emergence of various topological spin textures, including skyrmions and bimerons, in a specific all-magnetic van der Waals heterostructure using first-principles-based atomistic spin models, highlighting potential for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces an efficient spin-spiral method for mapping magnetic interactions and demonstrates the formation of multiple topological spin textures in a novel 2D heterostructure.

Findings

Nanoscale skyrmions form at zero field in FGT layer due to DMI.

Bimerons and antibimerons coexist in CGT layer due to exchange frustration and DMI.

Discretization effects significantly influence soliton energetics in hexagonal and honeycomb geometries.

Abstract

Magnetic solitons such as skyrmions and bimerons show great promise for both fundamental research and spintronic applications. Stabilizing and controlling topological spin textures in atomically thin van der Waals (vdW) materials has gained tremendous attention due to high tunability, enhanced functionality, and miniaturization. Here, we present an efficient spin-spiral approach based on first-principles, a method for mapping magnetic interactions from collective models onto arbitrary lattice symmetries, such as hexagonal and honeycomb lattices. Using atomistic spin models parametrized from first-principles, we predict the emergence of multiple topological spin textures in an all-magnetic vdW heterostructure Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$/Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$ (FGT/CGT) -- an experimentally feasible system. Interestingly, the FGT layer favors out-of-plane magnetization, whereas the CGT layer prefers in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy. N\'eel-type nanoscale skyrmions are formed at zero field in the FGT layer due to interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), while nanoscale bimerons and antibimerons can co-exist in the CGT layer by the interplay between exchange frustration and DMI. Using the collective approach we apply, we reveal significant discretization effects in hexagonal and honeycomb geometries. In particular, we demonstrate that the lifting of geometric exchange frustration on the honeycomb significantly affects soliton barriers and pinning energetics. These fundamental results not only highlight the importance of spin simulations in discrete models for topological magnetism, especially in 2D materials, but may also help to pave the way for solitonic devices based on atomically thin vdW heterostructures.