Electric-field-driven non-volatile multi-state switching of individual skyrmions in a multiferroic heterostructure

TLDR

Electrical manipulation of skyrmions is a hot topic, but current‑based methods rely on spin‑transfer or spin‑orbit torques, which are energy‑intensive and generate significant Joule heating. This study aims to lower energy consumption and thermal risk in skyrmion devices by employing electric fields instead of currents. The authors achieve room‑temperature electric‑field control of skyrmions in a ferromagnetic/ferroelectric heterostructure through an inverse magneto‑mechanical effect, with simulations attributing the effect to strain‑induced changes in magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. The resulting manipulation is non‑volatile and multi‑state, paving the way for low‑energy, non‑volatile, multi‑state skyrmion‑based spintronic devices.

Abstract

Electrical manipulation of skyrmions attracts considerable attention for its rich physics and promising applications. To date, such a manipulation is realized mainly via spin-polarized current based on spin-transfer torque or spin-orbital torque effect. However, this scheme is energy-consuming and may produce massive Joule heating. To reduce energy dissipation and risk of heightened temperatures of skyrmion-based devices, an effective solution is to use electric field instead of current as stimulus. Here, we realize an electric-field manipulation of skyrmions in a nanostructured ferromagnetic/ferroelectrical heterostructure at room temperature via an inverse magneto-mechanical effect. Intriguingly, such a manipulation is non-volatile and exhibits a multi-state feature. Numerical simulations indicate that the electric-field manipulation of skyrmions originates from strain-mediated modification of effective magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Our results open a direction for constructing low-energy-dissipation, non-volatile, and multi-state skyrmion-based spintronic devices.