Perpendicular reading of single confined magnetic skyrmions.

ABSTRACT: Thin-film sub-5 nm magnetic skyrmions constitute an ultimate scaling alternative for future digital data storage. Skyrmions are robust noncollinear spin textures that can be moved and manipulated by small electrical currents. Here we show here a technique to detect isolated nanoskyrmions with a current perpendicular-to-plane geometry, which has immediate implications for device concepts. We explore the physics behind such a mechanism by studying the atomistic electronic structure of the magnetic quasiparticles. We investigate from first principles how the isolated skyrmion local-density-of-states which tunnels into the vacuum, when compared with the ferromagnetic background, is modified by the site-dependent spin mixing of electronic states with different relative canting angles. Local tra

SUBMITTER: Crum DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4634132 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature