Switching target skyrmions on with temperature in continuous films.

What is it about?

Target skyrmions (TSks) are topological spin textures where the out-of-plane component of the magnetization twists an integer number of π rotations, beyond the single π rotation of their little brother, skyrmions. Besides expanding the dynamic applications of skyrmions, TSks are also conceived as ideal platforms for expanding a 2D spin texture towards the third dimension, accessing a higher dimensional space which is ideal for realizing non-conventional computing schemes. Up to date, the majority of the reported strategies to realize TSk rely on the lateral confinement, which hampers the free movement of the TSks through the whole continuous film. Based on a magnetic multilayer stack in the form of n x [CoFeB/MgO/Ta], we have demonstrated how temperature can be used as a switch to turn on/off 1π, 2π and 3π TSks, which are stable at room temperature and zero magnetic field in continuous films, i.e., beyond any gemetrical limits imposed by lateral confinement.

Featured Image

Photo by Fulvio Ciccolo on Unsplash

Photo by Fulvio Ciccolo on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We have demonstrated how to activate, in a very simple way, just by using temperature, target skyrmion states in magnetic multilayers in the form of thin films. The method is robust regardless the number of repetitions in our magnetic multilayer stack, and our simulations allow to understand the physics underneath this mechanism.