Zero-field skyrmion creation via surface acoustic waves
We investigate the effect of high-frequency surface acoustic waves on skyrmion bubbles in Cr/Ta/Pt/CoFeB/Pt heterostructures on 128° Y cut lithium niobate. The as-deposited samples are in a single-domain state. Low-temperature annealing yields a multi-domain state, and a subsequent field sweep results in the nucleation of bubbles with significantly increased density in the presence of propagating or standing surface acoustic waves. This increase stems from the strain-driven modifications to the magnetic anisotropy that lowers the barriers to nucleation in pinning sites near the nucleation threshold.
Authors
- Robert Streubel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4783-892X)
- Lia Compton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5958-3881)
- S. Adenwalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8885-6764)
- Bryce Herrington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1481-0464)
- Anil Adhikari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4258-6890)
- Kristen Buchanan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0879-0038)
- R. Oliya
Institutions
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- University of Minnesota System (US)
- Twin Cities Orthopedics (US)
- Colorado State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Physics Letters
- Published
- 2025-09-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0283233
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00