Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2025
06:53
Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact
Published on: February 1, 2017
6.9K
Antiferromagnetic half-skyrmions electrically generated and controlled at room temperature
O J Amin1, S F Poole2, S Reimers2,3,4
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. Oliver.Amin@nottingham.ac.uk.
Nature Nanotechnology
|May 8, 2023
Summary
Researchers demonstrate room-temperature electrical control of magnetic merons and antimerons in antiferromagnetic thin films. This breakthrough advances high-speed, high-density magnetic memory technologies.
Area of Science:
- Spintronics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Topologically protected magnetic textures like skyrmions and merons are key for next-generation memory devices.
- Antiferromagnetic materials offer advantages for high-frequency dynamics and scalability due to minimal stray fields.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the electrical generation and manipulation of merons and antimerons at room temperature.
- To investigate the potential of thin-film CuMnAs as a platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized thin-film CuMnAs, a semimetallic antiferromagnet.
- Employed electrical current pulses for the generation and movement of topological spin textures.
- Observed merons and antimerons localized on 180° domain walls.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated and reversibly moved merons and antimerons at room temperature using electrical pulses.
- Demonstrated that these textures move along the direction of current flow.
- Confirmed the viability of CuMnAs as a testbed for antiferromagnetic spintronic applications.
Conclusions:
- Electrical control of antiferromagnetic merons is achievable at room temperature.
- This work is a significant step towards realizing high-density, high-speed magnetic memory devices using antiferromagnetic thin films.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:31Ferromagnetism
2.4K
Materials like iron, nickel, and cobalt consist of magnetic domains, within which the magnetic dipoles are arranged parallel to each other. The magnetic dipoles are rigidly aligned in the same direction within a domain by quantum mechanical coupling among the atoms. This coupling is so strong that even thermal agitation at room temperature cannot break it. The result is that each domain has a net dipole moment. However, some materials have weaker coupling, and are ferromagnetic at lower...
2.4K
01:28Types Of Superconductors
1.1K
A superconductor is a substance that offers zero resistance to the electric current when it drops below a critical temperature. Zero resistance is not the only interesting phenomenon as materials reach their transition temperatures. A second effect is the exclusion of magnetic fields. This is known as the Meissner effect. A light, permanent magnet placed over a superconducting sample will levitate in a stable position above the superconductor. High-speed trains that levitate on strong...
1.1K
01:14Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
1.1K
Near absolute zero temperatures, in the presence of a magnetic field, the majority of nuclei prefer the lower energy spin-up state to the higher energy spin-down state. As temperatures increase, the energy from thermal collisions distributes the spins more equally between the two states. The Boltzmann distribution equation gives the ratio of the number of spins predicted in the spin −½ (N−) and spin +½ (N+) states.
1.1K
01:30Paramagnetism
2.6K
Paramagnets are materials with unpaired electrons that possess a finite magnetic moment. In the absence of a magnetic field, these moments are randomly oriented, and thus the net moment is zero. Under an external field, a torque acting on the moments tends to align them along the field's direction. However, the random thermal motion of electrons produces a torque opposite to the external field and tries to disorient the moments. These two competing effects align only a few moments along the...
2.6K
01:28Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
1.0K
An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...
1.0K
01:24Superconductor
1.2K
A substance that reaches superconductivity, a state in which magnetic fields cannot penetrate, and there is no electrical resistance, is referred to as a superconductor. In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes of Leiden University, a Dutch physicist, observed a relation between the temperature and the resistance of the element mercury. The mercury sample was then cooled in liquid helium to study the linear dependence of resistance on temperature. It was observed that, as the temperature decreased, the...
1.2K