Anhui University Develops World's Smallest Sized Skyrmion Racetrack Device Unit

TapTechNews July 17th news, the research team of Anhui University has fabricated the world's smallest sized skyrmion racetrack device unit, and this achievement is expected to provide key support for future high-density and high-speed storage technologies.

In 2009, German scientists discovered a magnetic structure with non-trivial topological characteristics in a type of chiral metallic magnetic material, which is called a magnetic skyrmion. It has the advantages of small size, high stability, and easy current manipulation, and is expected to be used as the next-generation data carrier to construct new types of magnetoelectronic devices.

But how to make the magnetic skyrmion move stably and controllably in the nanoscale racetrack has always been a difficult problem faced by researchers.

The research team of Anhui University has developed the focused ion beam processing and fabrication technology for the device structural unit, and designed and fabricated high-quality FeGe nanoribbons with uniform thickness, smooth boundaries/surfaces, and an amorphous layer thickness less than 2 nm ( length: 10 micrometers, width: 100 nanometers).

By controlling the current pulse width and current density, and using the edge state magnetic structure at the racetrack boundary to stabilize the skyrmion movement, a single 80-nanometer-sized magnetic skyrmion has achieved one-dimensional and stable movement in the 100-nanometer FeGe racetrack.

Relevant research results were published in Nature Communications, and TapTechNews attaches the following paper link:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49976-6