Disorder‐Engineered Composite Topological Spin Textures and Their Manipulation in a Room‐Temperature 2D van der Waals Ferromagnet

ABSTRACT The realization of practical spintronic devices based on topological spin textures is fundamentally limited by the skyrmion Hall effect, an intrinsic phenomenon that drives transverse motion and limits device efficiency. Composite quasiparticles with a net‐zero topological charge, such as skyrmioniums, are theoretically predicted to suppress this effect. However, the controlled stabilization and electrical manipulation of magnetic skyrmioniums and related higher‐order topological spin textures in two‐dimensional (2D) materials under ambient conditions remain challenging. Here, we demonstrate the room‐temperature stabilization of skyrmioniums and higher‐order topological spin textures in exfoliated flakes of the van der Waals ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 through a disorder‐engineering protocol. By introducing atomic‐scale structural defects through thermal annealing, we create a disorder‐modified magnetic landscape that is consistent with local inversion symmetry breaking and enhanced local Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, thereby favoring the stabilization of these exotic magnetic states. This mechanism is further supported by micromagnetic modeling. Furthermore, we show that electrical currents can drive topological phase transitions, subsequently transforming skyrmion bags into skyrmioniums and ultimately into skyrmions. The direct observation of linear, Hall‐free dynamics of the skyrmionium confirms its potential for next‐generation racetrack memory and logic devices, establishing defect engineering as a viable pathway for harnessing complex topological states in 2D magnets.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-07-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.77353
Primary Topic
Topological Materials and Phenomena
Type
article
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article

Disorder‐Engineered Composite Topological Spin Textures and Their Manipulation in a Room‐Temperature 2D van der Waals Ferromagnet

Xinyi Zhou, Ting Yu, Yi Du, Yan Zhou et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Topological Materials and Phenomena
article

Disorder‐Engineered Composite Topological Spin Textures and Their Manipulation in a Room‐Temperature 2D van der Waals Ferromagnet

Xinyi Zhou, Ting Yu, Yi Du, Yan Zhou, Xixiang Zhang, Lan Bo, Iftikhar Ahmed Malik, Sheng Liu, Vanessa Li Zhang, Hanqing Shi, Chen Liu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The realization of practical spintronic devices based on topological spin textures is fundamentally limited by the skyrmion Hall effect, an intrinsic phenomenon that drives transverse motion and limits device efficiency. Composite quasiparticles with a net‐zero topological charge, such as skyrmioniums, are theoretically predicted to suppress this effect. However, the controlled stabilization and electrical manipulation of magnetic skyrmioniums and related higher‐order topological spin textures in two‐dimensional (2D) materials under ambient conditions remain challenging. Here, we demonstrate the room‐temperature stabilization of skyrmioniums and higher‐order topological spin textures in exfoliated flakes of the van der Waals ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 through a disorder‐engineering protocol. By introducing atomic‐scale structural defects through thermal annealing, we create a disorder‐modified magnetic landscape that is consistent with local inversion symmetry breaking and enhanced local Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, thereby favoring the stabilization of these exotic magnetic states. This mechanism is further supported by micromagnetic modeling. Furthermore, we show that electrical currents can drive topological phase transitions, subsequently transforming skyrmion bags into skyrmioniums and ultimately into skyrmions. The direct observation of linear, Hall‐free dynamics of the skyrmionium confirms its potential for next‐generation racetrack memory and logic devices, establishing defect engineering as a viable pathway for harnessing complex topological states in 2D magnets.

Advanced Functional Materials
Waseda University (JP), Wuhan University of Technology (CN), Wuhan University (CN), Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN), National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (CN), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), Hubei University of Technology (CN), Beihang University (CN), Wuhan Institute of Technology (CN)
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Topological Materials and Phenomena
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