NPG Asia Materials (Mar 2024)

Spontaneous Small Biskyrmions in a Centrosymmetric Rare-Earth Kagome Ferrimagnet

  • Shulan Zuo,
  • Kaiming Qiao,
  • Zhan Wang,
  • Ying Zhang,
  • Chengbao Jiang,
  • Baogen Shen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41427-024-00534-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract Magnetic skyrmions with nontrivial topologies have great potential to serve as memory cells in novel spintronic devices. Small skyrmions were theoretically and experimentally confirmed to be generated under the influence of external fields in ferrimagnetic films via Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions (DMIs). However, this topological state has yet to be verified in ferrimagnetic crystals, especially in the absence of external fields and DMIs. Here, spontaneous biskyrmions were directly observed in the Tb0.2Gd0.8Co2 ferrimagnetic crystal with a Kagome lattice using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. The high-density biskyrmions exhibited a small size (approximately 50 nm) over a wide temperature range, were closely related to subtle magnetic interaction competition, and coexisted with some broken stripes that could be easily converted into zero-field biskyrmions by utilizing proper field-cooling manipulation. These results can be used to establish a platform for investigating functional sub-50-nm skyrmions in ferrimagnetic crystals and to facilitate advanced applications in magnetic devices.