Distinct skyrmion phases at room temperature in two-dimensional ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 3278
• Main Authors: Lv, Xiaowei, Lv, Hualiang, Huang, Yalei, Zhang, Ruixuan, Qin, Guanhua, Dong, Yihui, Liu, Min, Pei, Ke, Cao, Guixin, Zhang, Jincang, Lai, Yuxiang, Che, Renchao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16.04.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/143; 639/301/119/2793; 639/301/119/997; Coexistence; Electrons; Ferromagnetism; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hypothetical particles; Magnetic fields; Magnetism; Magnets; Microscopy; multidisciplinary; Particle theory; Phases; R&D; Racetracks; Research & development; Room temperature; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Temperature; Thermal stability; Topology
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47579-9

Distinct skyrmion phases at room temperature hosted by one material offer additional degree of freedom for the design of topology-based compact and energetically-efficient spintronic devices. The field has been extended to low-dimensional magnets with the discovery of magnetism in two-dimensional van der Waals magnets. However, creating multiple skyrmion phases in 2D magnets, especially above room temperature, remains a major challenge. Here, we report the experimental observation of mixed-type skyrmions, exhibiting both Bloch and hybrid characteristics, in a room-temperature ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 . Analysis of the magnetic intensities under varied imaging conditions coupled with complementary simulations reveal that spontaneous Bloch skyrmions exist as the magnetic ground state with the coexistence of hybrid stripes domain, on account of the interplay between the dipolar interaction and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Moreover, hybrid skyrmions are created and their coexisting phases with Bloch skyrmions exhibit considerably high thermostability, enduring up to 328 K. The findings open perspectives for 2D spintronic devices incorporating distinct skyrmion phases at room temperature. Most 2D magnets support only a single skyrmion phase. Here, the authors observe two distinct topological phases: Bloch and hybrid skyrmions, with high thermostability in the room-temperature ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 .