Direct Observation of Room-Temperature Magnetic Skyrmion Motion Driven by Ultra-Low Current Density in Van Der Waals Ferromagnets.

The recent discovery of room-temperature ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals (vdW) materials, such as Fe3GaTe2 (FGaT), has garnered significant interest in offering a robust platform for 2D spintronic applications. Various fundamental operations essential for the realization of 2D spintronics devices are experimentally confirmed using these materials at room temperature, such as current-induced magnetization switching or tunneling magnetoresistance. Nevertheless, the potential applications of magnetic skyrmions in FGaT systems at room temperature remain unexplored. In this work, the current-induced generation of magnetic skyrmions in FGaT flakes employing high-resolution magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy is introduced, supported by a feasible mechanism based on thermal effects. Furthermore, direct observation of the current-induced magnetic skyrmion motion at room temperature in FGaT flakes is presented with ultra-low threshold current density. This work highlights the potential of FGaT as a foundation for room-temperature-operating 2D skyrmion device applications.

Magnetic Skyrmion Transistor Gated with Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy.

The paradigm shift of information carriers from charge to spin has long been awaited in modern electronics. The invention of the spin-information transistor is expected to be an essential building block for the future development of spintronics. Here, a proof-of-concept experiment of a magnetic skyrmion transistor working at room temperature, which has never been demonstrated experimentally, is introduced. With the spatially uniform control of magnetic anisotropy, the shape and topology of a skyrmion when passing the controlled area can be maintained. The findings will open a new route toward the design and realization of skyrmion-based spintronic devices in the near future.

High-Performance Broadband Phototransistor Based on TeOx/IGTO Heterojunctions.

Ultraviolet to infrared broadband spectral detection capability is a technological challenge for sensing materials being developed for high-performance photodetection. In this work, we stacked 9 nm-thick tellurium oxide (TeOx) and 8 nm-thick InGaSnO (IGTO) into a heterostructure at a low temperature of 150 °C. The superior photoelectric characteristics we achieved benefit from the intrinsic optical absorption range (300-1500 nm) of the hexagonal tellurium (Te) phase in the TeOx film, and photoinduced electrons are driven effectively by band alignment at the TeOx/IGTO interface under illumination. A photosensor based on our optimized heterostructure exhibited a remarkable detectivity of 1.6 × 1013 Jones, a responsivity of 84 A/W, and a photosensitivity of 1 × 105, along with an external quantum efficiency of 222% upon illumination by blue light (450 nm). Simultaneously, modest detection properties (responsivity: ∼31 A/W, detectivity: ∼6 × 1011 Jones) for infrared irradiation at 970 nm demonstrate that this heterostructure can be employed as a broadband phototransistor. Furthermore, its low-temperature processability suggests that our proposed concept might be used to design array optoelectronic devices for wide band detection with high sensitivity, flexibility, and stability.

Direct Demonstration of Topological Stability of Magnetic Skyrmions via Topology Manipulation.

Topological protection precludes a continuous deformation between topologically inequivalent configurations in a continuum. Motivated by this concept, magnetic skyrmions, topologically nontrivial spin textures, are expected to exhibit topological stability, thereby offering a prospect as a nanometer-scale nonvolatile information carrier. In real materials, however, atomic spins are configured as not continuous but discrete distributions, which raises a fundamental question if the topological stability is indeed preserved for real magnetic skyrmions. Answering this question necessitates a direct comparison between topologically nontrivial and trivial spin textures, but the direct comparison in one sample under the same magnetic fields has been challenging. Here we report how to selectively achieve either a skyrmion state or a topologically trivial bubble state in a single specimen and thereby experimentally show how robust the skyrmion structure is in comparison with the bubbles. We demonstrate that topologically nontrivial magnetic skyrmions show longer lifetimes than trivial bubble structures, evidencing the topological stability in a real discrete system. Our work corroborates the physical importance of the topology in the magnetic materials, which has hitherto been suggested by mathematical arguments, providing an important step toward ever-dense and more-stable magnetic devices.

Dynamics of the Bloch point in an asymmetric permalloy disk.

A Bloch point (BP) is a topological defect in a ferromagnet at which the local magnetization vanishes. With the difficulty of generating a stable BP in magnetic nanostructures, the intrinsic nature of a BP and its dynamic behaviour has not been verified experimentally. We report a realization of steady-state BPs embedded in deformed magnetic vortex cores in asymmetrically shaped Ni80Fe20 nanodisks. Time-resolved nanoscale magnetic X-ray imaging combined with micromagnetic simulation shows detailed dynamic character of BPs, revealing rigid and limited lateral movements under magnetic field pulses as well as its crucial role in vortex-core dynamics. Direct visualizations of magnetic structures disclose the unique dynamical feature of a BP as an atomic scale discrete spin texture and allude its influence on the neighbouring spin structures such as magnetic vortices.

Imaging the magnetic structures of artificial quasicrystal magnets using resonant coherent diffraction of circularly polarized X-rays.

Unraveling nanoscale spin structures has long been an important activity addressing various scientific interests, that are also readily adaptable to technological applications. This has invigorated the development of versatile nanoprobes suitable for imaging specimens under native conditions. Here we have demonstrated the resonant coherent diffraction of an artificial quasicrystal magnet with circularly polarized X-rays. The nanoscale magnetic structure was revealed from X-ray speckle patterns by comparing with micromagnetic simulations, as a step toward understanding the intricate relationship between the chemical and spin structures in an aperiodic quasicrystal lattice. Femtosecond X-ray pulses from free electron lasers are expected to immediately extend the current work to nanoscale structure investigations of ultrafast spin dynamics, surpassing the present spatio-temporal resolution.

Spin-orbit torque-driven skyrmion dynamics revealed by time-resolved X-ray microscopy.

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures with attractive properties suitable for high-density and low-power spintronic device applications. Much effort has been dedicated to understanding the dynamical behaviours of the magnetic skyrmions. However, experimental observation of the ultrafast dynamics of this chiral magnetic texture in real space, which is the hallmark of its quasiparticle nature, has so far remained elusive. Here, we report nanosecond-dynamics of a 100nm-diameter magnetic skyrmion during a current pulse application, using a time-resolved pump-probe soft X-ray imaging technique. We demonstrate that distinct dynamic excitation states of magnetic skyrmions, triggered by current-induced spin-orbit torques, can be reliably tuned by changing the magnitude of spin-orbit torques. Our findings show that the dynamics of magnetic skyrmions can be controlled by the spin-orbit torque on the nanosecond time scale, which points to exciting opportunities for ultrafast and novel skyrmionic applications in the future.