Magnetic skyrmions are an interesting example of solitons that occurs in ferromagnetic materials with conceivable solutions in electronics, assuming they can be created and moved at will. The creation and moving of such skyrmions has now been demonstrated by [Yubin Ji] et al. with a research article in Advanced Materials. This first ever achievement by these researchers of the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) was more power efficient than previously demonstrated manipulation of magnetic skyrmions in thicker (3D) materials.

Magnetic skyrmions are sometimes described as ‘magnetic vortices’, forming statically stable solitons. In a broader sense skyrmions are a topologically stable field configuration in particle physics where they form a crucial part of the emerging field of spintronics. For magnetic skyrmions their stability comes from the topological stability, as changing the atomic spin of the atoms inside the skyrmion would require overcoming a significant energy barrier.

In the case of the KRISS researchers, electrical pulses together with a  magnetic field were used to create magnetic skyrmions in the ferromagnetic  (Fe₃GaTe₂, or FGaT) film, after which a brief (50 µs) electric current pulse was applied. This demonstrated that the magnetic skyrmions can be moved this way, with the solitons moving parallel to the electron flow injection, making them quite steerable.

While practical applications of magnetic skyrmions are likely to be many years off, it is this kind of fundamental research that will enable future magnetic storage and spintronics-related devices.

Featured image: Direct imaging of the magnetic skyrmions. The scale bars represent 300 nm. (Credit:Yubin Ji et al., Adv. Mat. 2024)