Imprint from ferromagnetic skyrmions in an antiferromagnet via exchange bias

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures holding great potential as nanoscale information carriers. Recently, skyrmions have been predicted in antiferromagnets, with key advantages in terms of stability, size, and dynamical properties over their ferromagnetic analogs. However, their experimental demonstration is still lacking. Here, we show the imprint from ferromagnetic skyrmions into a thin film of an IrMn antiferromagnet, at room temperature and zero external magnetic field, using exchange-bias. Using high-spatial-resolution x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy (XMCD-PEEM), we observed the imprinted spin textures within the IrMn from the XMCD signal of the uncompensated Mn spins at the interface with the ferromagnet. This result opens up a path for logic and memory devices based on skyrmion manipulation in antiferromagnets.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Nov 08, 2021
Source ID
10.1063/5.0066766

Entities

People

  • Gilles Gaudin
  • Kaushik Bairagi
  • Kumari Gaurav Rana
  • Lucia Aballe
  • M. Belmeguenai
  • Michael Foerster
  • Olivier Boulle
  • Qiang Zhang
  • Rafael Lopes Seeger
  • Roméo Juge
  • Sandra Ruiz-Gómez
  • Stéphane Auffret
  • V. Baltz
  • Van Tuong Pham

Organizations

  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche
  • Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Grenoble Alpes University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Nanofabrication and Microfabrication.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics