Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3-$x$GaTe2 with ultrafast laser writability

Li, Zefang; Zhang, Huai; Li, Guanqi; Guo, Jiangteng; Wang, Qingping; Deng, Ying; Hu, Yue; Hu, Xuange; Liu, Can; Qin, Minghui; Shen, Xi; Yu, Richeng; Gao, Xingsen; Liao, Zhimin; Liu, Junming; Hou, Zhipeng; Zhu, Yimei; Fu, Xuewen

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45310-2

Title: Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe_3-$$x$$GaTe₂ with ultrafast laser writability

Journal Article · Sat Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45310-2· OSTI ID:2315621

^[1]; Zhang, Huai ^[2]; Li, Guanqi ^[3]; Guo, Jiangteng ^[1]; Wang, Qingping ^[4]; Deng, Ying ^[1]; Hu, Yue ^[1]; Hu, Xuange ^[1]; Liu, Can ^[1];

^[2]; Shen, Xi ^[5]; Yu, Richeng ^[5];

^[2];

^[6];

^[7];

^[2];

^[8];

^[1]

Nankai Univ., Tianjin (China)
South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou (China)
Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou (China)
Aba Teachers University, Wenchuan (China)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou (China); Nanjing Univ. (China)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Realizing room-temperature magnetic skyrmions in two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnets offers unparalleled prospects for future spintronic applications. However, due to the intrinsic spin fluctuations that suppress atomic long-range magnetic order and the inherent inversion crystal symmetry that excludes the presence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, achieving room-temperature skyrmions in 2D magnets remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we target room-temperature 2D magnet Fe₃GaTe₂ and unveil that the introduction of iron-deficient into this compound enables spatial inversion symmetry breaking, thus inducing a significant Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction that brings about room-temperature Néel-type skyrmions with unprecedentedly small size. To further enhance the practical applications of this finding, we employ a homemade in-situ optical Lorentz transmission electron microscopy to demonstrate ultrafast writing of skyrmions in Fe_3-$$x$$GaTe₂ using a single femtosecond laser pulse. Our results manifest the Fe_3-$$x$$GaTe₂ as a promising building block for realizing skyrmion-based magneto-optical functionalities.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; 12304146; 11974191; 12127803; 52322108; 52271178; U22A20117; 12241403

OSTI ID:: 2315621

Report Number(s):: BNL-225338-2024-JAAM

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 15, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe_3-$$x$$GaTe₂ with ultrafast laser writability