Creation and observation of Hopfions in magnetic multilayer systems

Kent, Noah; Reynolds, Neal; Raftrey, David; Campbell, Ian T. G.; Virasawmy, Selven; Dhuey, Scott; Chopdekar, Rajesh V.; Hierro-Rodriguez, Aurelio; Sorrentino, Andrea; Pereiro, Eva; Ferrer, Salvador; Hellman, Frances; Sutcliffe, Paul; Fischer, Peter

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21846-5

Creation and observation of Hopfions in magnetic multilayer systems

Journal Article · Tue Mar 09 23:00:00 EST 2021 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21846-5· OSTI ID:1713314

Kent, Noah ^[1]; Reynolds, Neal ^[2]; Raftrey, David ^[1]; Campbell, Ian T. G. ^[2]; Virasawmy, Selven ^[3]; Dhuey, Scott ^[3]; Chopdekar, Rajesh V. ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[5]; ^[5]; ^[5]; Hellman, Frances ^[2]; ^[6]; ^[1]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of Oviedo (Spain)
ALBA Synchrotron, Cerdanyola del Vallès (Spain)
Durham Univ. (United Kingdom)

Among topological solitons, magnetic skyrmions are two-dimensional particle-like objects with a continuous winding of the magnetization, and magnetic Hopfions are three-dimensional objects that can be formed from a closed loop of twisted skyrmion strings. Theoretical models suggest that magnetic Hopfions can be stabilized in frustrated or chiral magnetic systems, and target skymions can be transformed into Hopfions by adapting their perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, but their experimental verification has been elusive so far. Here, we present an experimental study of magnetic Hopfions that are created in Ir/Co/Pt multilayers shaped into nanoscale disks, known to host target skyrmions. To characterize three-dimensional spin textures that distinguish Hopfions from target skyrmions magnetic images are recorded with surface-sensitive X-ray photoemission electron microscopy and bulk-sensitive soft X-ray transmission microscopy using element-specific X-ray magnetic circular dichroism effects as magnetic contrast. These results could stimulate further investigations of Hopfions and their potential application in three-dimensional spintronics devices.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS) and The Molecular Foundry (TMF)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; European Union

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1713314

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 12; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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