Observation of Nanoscale Skyrmions in SrIrO3 /SrRuO3 Bilayers

Keng Yuan Meng, Adam S. Ahmed, Mirko Baćani, Andrada Oana Mandru, Xue Zhao, Núria Bagués, Bryan D. Esser, Jose Flores, David W. McComb, Hans J. Hug, Fengyuan Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Skyrmion imaging and electrical detection via topological Hall (TH) effect are two primary techniques for probing magnetic skyrmions, which hold promise for next-generation magnetic storage. However, these two kinds of complementary techniques have rarely been employed to investigate the same samples. We report the observation of nanoscale skyrmions in SrIrO 3 /SrRuO 3 (SIO/SRO) bilayers in a wide temperature range from 10 to 100 K. The SIO/SRO bilayers exhibit a remarkable TH effect, which is up to 200% larger than the anomalous Hall (AH) effect at 5 K, and zero-field TH effect at 90 K. Using variable-temperature, high-field magnetic force microscopy (MFM), we imaged skyrmions as small as 10 nm, which emerge in the same field ranges as the TH effect. These results reveal a rich space for skyrmion exploration and tunability in oxide heterostructures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3169-3175
Number of pages7
JournalNano Letters
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 May 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • epitaxial oxide films
  • magnetic force microscopy
  • Skyrmions
  • topological Hall effect

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