Room-temperature sub-100 nm Neel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe_3-xGaTe₂ with ultrafast laser writability.

ABSTRACT: 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-xGaTe₂ using a single femtosecond laser pulse. Our results manifest the Fe_3-xGaTe₂ as a promising building block for realizing skyrmion-based magneto-optical functionalities.

SUBMITTER: Li Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10838308 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature