Thermoelectric microscopy of magnetic skyrmions

The magnetic skyrmion is a nanoscale topological object characterized by the winding of the magnetic moments, appearing in magnetic materials with broken inversion symmetry. Because of its low current threshold for driving, the skyrmions have been intensely studied toward novel storage applications...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Iguchi, Ryo, Kasai, Shinya, Koshikawa, Kazushige, Chinone, Norimichi, Suzuki, Shinsuke, Uchida, Ken-ichi
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 29.10.2019
Subjects
Current pulses
Electron beams
Heating
Hypothetical particles
Low currents
Magnetic materials
Magnetic moments
Multilayers
Particle theory
Temperature gradients
Thermoelectricity
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Summary:The magnetic skyrmion is a nanoscale topological object characterized by the winding of the magnetic moments, appearing in magnetic materials with broken inversion symmetry. Because of its low current threshold for driving, the skyrmions have been intensely studied toward novel storage applications by using electron-beam, X-ray, and visible light microscopies. Here, we show that the skyrmions can be imaged via thermoelectric signals of spin-caloritronic phenomena in combination with focused heating. We applied a local temperature gradient to a CoFeB/Ta/W multilayer film with scanning a heating position and, by exploiting a Hall bar structure, mapped the magnitude as well as the direction of the resultant thermoelectric current distributions, which link to skyrmions' inner magnetic textures. This method also enables the observation of skyrmion dynamics under driving current pulses, being a useful imaging technique for the development of skyrmion devices.
ISSN:2331-8422