Peter Grünberg Institut and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 22;9(1):4395. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06827-5.
Magnetic skyrmions are prime candidates for future spintronic devices. However, incorporating them as information carriers hinges on their interaction with defects ubiquitous in any device. Here we map from first-principles, the energy profile of single skyrmions interacting with single-atom impurities, establishing a generic shape as function of the defect's electron filling. Depending on their chemical nature, foreign 3d and 4d transition metal adatoms or surface implanted defects can either repel or pin skyrmions in PdFe/Ir(111) thin films, which we relate to the degree of filling of bonding and anti-bonding electronic states inherent to the proximity of the non-collinear magnetic structure. Similarities with key concepts of bond theories in catalysis and surface sciences imbue the universality of the shape of the interaction profile and the potential of predicting its interaction. The resulting fundamental understanding may give guidance for the design of devices with surface implanted defects to generate and control skyrmions.
磁斯格明子是未来自旋电子器件的主要候选者。然而，要将它们用作信息载体，关键在于它们与任何器件中普遍存在的缺陷相互作用。在这里，我们从第一性原理出发，绘制了单个斯格明子与单个原子杂质相互作用的能量分布，确定了作为缺陷电子填充函数的通用形状。根据它们的化学性质，外来的 3d 和 4d 过渡金属 adatoms 或表面植入的缺陷可以排斥或固定 PdFe/Ir(111)薄膜中的斯格明子，我们将其与非共线磁结构附近固有键合和反键合电子态的填充程度联系起来。与催化和表面科学中键理论关键概念的相似性赋予了相互作用分布形状的普遍性和预测其相互作用的潜力。由此产生的基本理解可以为设计具有表面植入缺陷的器件以产生和控制斯格明子提供指导。
