Néel-type skyrmion in WTe2/Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals heterostructure

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 3860
• Main Authors: Wu, Yingying, Zhang, Senfu, Zhang, Junwei, Wang, Wei, Zhu, Yang Lin, Hu, Jin, Yin, Gen, Wong, Kin, Fang, Chi, Wan, Caihua, Han, Xiufeng, Shao, Qiming, Taniguchi, Takashi, Watanabe, Kenji, Zang, Jiadong, Mao, Zhiqiang, Zhang, Xixiang, Wang, Kang L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 31.07.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/1005/1007; 639/766/1130/2798; 639/766/119/1001; Coupling; Electromagnetism; Electronic and spintronic devices; Electronic devices; Energy; ENGINEERING; Flux density; Hall effect; Heterostructures; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hypothetical particles; Image transmission; Information storage; Magnetic domains; multidisciplinary; Particle theory; Phase transitions; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spintronics; Thin films; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17566-x

The promise of high-density and low-energy-consumption devices motivates the search for layered structures that stabilize chiral spin textures such as topologically protected skyrmions. At the same time, recently discovered long-range intrinsic magnetic orders in the two-dimensional van der Waals materials provide a new platform for the discovery of novel physics and effects. Here we demonstrate the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and Néel-type skyrmions are induced at the WTe 2 /Fe 3 GeTe 2 interface. Transport measurements show the topological Hall effect in this heterostructure for temperatures below 100 K. Furthermore, Lorentz transmission electron microscopy is used to directly image Néel-type skyrmion lattice and the stripe-like magnetic domain structures as well. The interfacial coupling induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction is estimated to have a large energy of 1.0 mJ m −2 . This work paves a path towards the skyrmionic devices based on van der Waals layered heterostructures. Strong magnetic interfacial coupling in van der Waals heterostructures provides a new platform for discovering novel physics and effects. Here, the authors report the formation of skyrmion lattice in the WTe 2 /Fe 3 GeTe 2 van der Waals heterostructure and a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction with a large energy density of 1.0 mJm −2 .