Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 38: Spintronics

O 38.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 8, 2016, 14:00–14:15, S051

Skyrmion à la carte: Engineering magnetic skyrmions at transition-metal multilayers — •Bertrand Dupé¹, Gustav Bihlmayer², Marie Böttcher¹, Stefan Blügel², and Stefan Heinze¹ — ¹Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany — ²Peter Grünberg Institut & Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Due to their unique topological and dynamical properties skyrmions in magnetic materials offer attractive perspectives for future spintronic applications [1]. Recently, it has been discovered that magnetic skyrmions can also occur in ultra-thin transition metal films at surfaces [2,3]. However, so far only skyrmions at interfaces with a single atomic layer of a magnetic material were reported, which greatly limits their potential for application in devices. Here, we predict the emergence of skyrmions in [4d/Fe₂/5d]_n multilayers, i.e. structures composed of Fe biatomic layers sandwiched between 4d- and 5d-transition-metal layers [4]. In these composite structures, the exchange and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which control skyrmion formation, can be tuned separately by the two interfaces. This allows engineering skyrmions as shown by density functional theory and spin dynamics simulations. [1] A. Fert, et al., Nature Nano. 8, 152 (2013). [2] N. Romming, et al., Science 341, 636 (2013). [3] B. Dupé, et al., Nature Comm. 5, 4030 (2014). [4] B. Dupé, et al., submitted (arXiv :1503.08098).