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  • Title: Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy.
    Author: Hervé M, Dupé B, Lopes R, Böttcher M, Martins MD, Balashov T, Gerhard L, Sinova J, Wulfhekel W.
    Journal: Nat Commun; 2018 Mar 09; 9(1):1015. PubMed ID: 29523833.
    Abstract:
    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.
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