Realization of skyrmion shift register

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• The increasing demand for data storage necessitates advanced nonvolatile, low-power memory technologies.
• Magnetic skyrmions, a type of topological soliton, offer potential as information carriers for efficient processing.
• Experimental realization of skyrmionic devices lags behind theoretical advancements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address experimental challenges in versatile skyrmionic device fabrication.
• To demonstrate the controlled formation and manipulation of magnetic skyrmions for data storage applications.
• To present a prototype shift register utilizing skyrmionic bits.

Main Methods:

• Patterning Si/SiO2 substrates with concaved surface topography and indentations.
• Fabricating Ta/CoFeB/MgO multilayer films to create a non-flat energy landscape.
• Developing one-dimensional racetrack devices for deterministic skyrmion shifting.

Main Results:

• Achieved formation of hexagonal and square skyrmion lattices.
• Demonstrated long-distance, deterministic shifting of skyrmions between indentations at room temperature.
• Presented a prototype shift register capable of generating and shifting complex skyrmionic data strings.

Conclusions:

• Engineered non-flat energy landscapes facilitate controlled skyrmion lattice formation.
• Deterministic skyrmion shifting in racetrack devices is feasible at room temperature.
• These findings pave the way for transformative skyrmionic memory, logic, and in-memory computing devices.