Real-space imaging of confined magnetic skyrmion tubes

Birch, M.T.; Cortés-Ortuño, D.; Turnbull, L.A.; Wilson, M.N.; Groß, F.; Träger, N.; Laurenson, A.; Bukin, N.; Moody, S.H.; Weigand, M.; Schütz, G.; Popescu, H.; Fan, R.; Steadman, P.; Verezhak, J.A.T.; Balakrishnan, G.; Loudon, J.C.; Twitchett-Harrison, A.C.; Hovorka, O.; Fangohr, H.; Ogrin, F.Y.; Gräfe, J.; Hatton, P.D.

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically nontrivial particles with a potential application as information elements in future spintronic device architectures. While they are commonly portrayed as two dimensional objects, in reality magnetic skyrmions are thought to exist as elongated, tube-like objects extending through the thickness of the host material. The study of this skyrmion tube state (SkT) is vital for furthering the understanding of skyrmion formation and dynamics for future applications. However, direct experimental imaging of skyrmion tubes has yet to be reported. Here, we demonstrate the real-space observation of skyrmion tubes in a lamella of FeGe using resonant magnetic x-ray imaging and comparative micromagnetic simulations, confirming their extended structure. The formation of these structures at the edge of the sample highlights the importance of confinement and edge effects in the stabilisation of the SkT state, opening the door to further investigations into this unexplored dimension of the skyrmion spin texture.

Citation

Birch, M., Cortés-Ortuño, D., Turnbull, L., Wilson, M., Groß, F., Träger, N., Laurenson, A., Bukin, N., Moody, S., Weigand, M., Schütz, G., Popescu, H., Fan, R., Steadman, P., Verezhak, J., Balakrishnan, G., Loudon, J., Twitchett-Harrison, A., Hovorka, O., Fangohr, H., …Hatton, P. (2020). Real-space imaging of confined magnetic skyrmion tubes. Nature Communications, 11, Article 1726. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15474-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 13, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Apr 7, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 28, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 8, 2020
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Article Number: 1726
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15474-8
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1267127