Room-Temperature Skyrmions at Zero Field in Exchange-Biased Ultrathin Films

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures of great interest for nanoscale information storage and processing. However, stabilizing small skyrmions without applying an external magnetic field remains challenging. This study employs a thin ferromagnetic layer exchange-biased by an antiferromagnetic film to stabilize ferromagnetic skyrmions around 60 nm in diameter, at zero magnetic field. In such a magnetic structure, exchange bias enhances skyrmion stability against external magnetic field perturbations, making this a promising platform for spintronic devices.