Localized Spin Textures Stabilized by Geometry-Induced Strain in 2D Magnet FeGeTe.

Strain engineering promises to enable manipulation and control of the properties of exfoliated flakes of 2D van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets for spintronic applications. However, while previous studies of strain effects have focused on global properties, the impact on local magnetic spin textures remains unexplored. Here, manipulation of magnetism in the 2D ferromagnet FeGeTe (FGT) is demonstrated using geometry-induced strain. Employing scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), the effects of spatially varying strain profiles on the magnetic order of FGT sheets stamped onto micropillar arrays are directly visualized. It is found that the in-plane strain components, with magnitudes <0.5%, locally elevate the Curie temperature of FGT by 10 K, stabilizing magnetic domains near the pillar corners. These domains include skyrmions and higher-order topological spin textures such as skyrmioniums and skyrmion bags. The possibility to locally seed and control topological spin textures via strain opens new avenues for future spin-based information technologies.