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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Publisher Correction: Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy
Timofey BalashovMarie BöttcherM. D. MartinsMarie HervéWulf WulfhekelBertrand DupéBertrand DupéJairo SinovaJairo SinovaLukas GerhardRafael Lopessubject
PhysicsMultidisciplinaryCondensed matter physicsSciencePhysicsSkyrmionQGeneral Physics and Astronomy02 engineering and technologyGeneral Chemistry021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology01 natural sciencesPublisher CorrectionGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyMagnetic anisotropyLow magnetic field0103 physical sciencesComputingMethodologies_DOCUMENTANDTEXTPROCESSINGlcsh:Qddc:530lcsh:Science010306 general physics0210 nano-technologyGeneralLiterature_REFERENCE(e.g.dictionariesencyclopediasglossaries)Spin-½description
Skyrmions are topologically protected non-collinear magnetic structures. Their stability is ideally suited to carry information in, e.g., racetrack memories. The success of such a memory critically depends on the ability to stabilize and manipulate skyrmions at low magnetic fields. The non-collinear Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction originating from spin-orbit coupling drives skyrmion formation. It competes with Heisenberg exchange and magnetic anisotropy favoring collinear states. Isolated skyrmions in ultra-thin films so far required magnetic fields as high as several Tesla. Here, we show that isolated skyrmions in a monolayer of Co/Ru(0001) can be stabilized down to vanishing fields. Even with the weak spin-orbit coupling of the 4d element Ru, homochiral spin spirals and isolated skyrmions were detected with spin-sensitive scanning tunneling microscopy. Density functional theory calculations explain the stability of the chiral magnetic features by the absence of magnetic anisotropy energy.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-06-01 | Nature Communications |