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low moment MFM probes

Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3-xGaTe2 with ultrafast laser writability

Fig. 4 from Zefang Li et al. (2024) “Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3-xGaTe2 with ultrafast laser writability”: Thickness-tunable skyrmions imaged by MFM. a Typical MFM images of RT skyrmions taken at different thicknesses and external magnetic fields. In these images, bright contrast in the images corresponds to spin down, while dark contrast corresponds to spin up relative to the sample normal direction. The inset shows the schematic for the MFM experiment with magnetic field perpendicular to the sample plane. b RT skyrmion diameter dsk versus sample thickness t at zero field. c Comparison for diameter dsk of field-free skyrmions and temperature T for various 2D vdW materials with a thickness around 100 nm, including Cr1+xTe234, Fe3-xGeTe255, Fe5GeTe224, (Fe0.5Co0.5)5GeTe231, and Fe2.84±0.05GaTe2 in this work. Error bars represent the standard error of skyrmion sizes averaged at various temperature. d Thickness and magnetic field dependence of RT skyrmion phase diagram. The color indicates the skyrmion density ρsk. The black dashed line shows the boundary between skyrmion and ferromagnetic phase. The magnetic force microscopy (MFM) measurements were performed with a commercially available Atomic Force Microscope and NANOSENSORSTM low-moment magnetic AFM tips PPP-LM-MFMR. The MFM measurements were carried out in an environment continuously flushed with argon gas to ensure effective protection.

The small size and magnetoelectronic properties of magnetic skyrmions make them promising candidates as data carriers for future high-density and fast-speed data storage, quantum and… Read More »Room-temperature sub-100 nm Néel-type skyrmions in non-stoichiometric van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3-xGaTe2 with ultrafast laser writability