Ordered creation and motion of skyrmions with surface acoustic wave

Magnetic skyrmions with a well-defined spin texture have shown unprecedented potential for various spintronic applications owing to their topologically non-trivial and quasiparticle properties. To put skyrmions into practical technology, efficient manipulation, especially the inhibition of skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) has been intensively pursued. In spite of the recent progress made on reducing SkHE in several substituted systems, such as ferrimagnets and synthetic antiferromagnets, the organized creation and current driven motion of skyrmions with negligible SkHE in ferromagnets remain challenging. Here, by embedding the [Co/Pd] multilayer into a surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay line where the longitudinal leaky SAW is excited to provide both the strain and thermal effect, we experimentally realized the ordered generation of magnetic skyrmions. The resultant current-induced skyrmions movement with negligible SkHE was observed, which can be attributed to the energy redistribution of the system during the excitation of SAW. Our findings open up an unprecedentedly new perspective for manipulating topological solitons, which could possibly trigger the future discoveries in skyrmionics and spin acousto-electronics.

Ruyi Chen, Chong Chen, Lei Han, Peisen Liu, Rongxuan Su, Wenxuan Zhu, Yongjian Zhou, Feng Pan, Cheng Song