Reversible writing/deleting of magnetic skyrmions through hydrogen adsorption/desorption

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically nontrivial spin textures with envisioned applications in energy-efficient magnetic information storage. Toggling the presence of magnetic skyrmions via writing/deleting processes is essential for spintronics applications, which usually require the application of a magnetic field, a gate voltage or an electric current. Here we demonstrate the reversible field-free writing/deleting of skyrmions at room temperature, via hydrogen chemisorption/desorption on the surface of Ni and Co films. Supported by Monte-Carlo simulations, the skyrmion creation/annihilation is attributed to the hydrogen-induced magnetic anisotropy change on ferromagnetic surfaces. We also demonstrate the role of hydrogen and oxygen on magnetic anisotropy and skyrmion deletion on other magnetic surfaces. Our results open up new possibilities for designing skyrmionic and magneto-ionic devices. To use skyrmions to store information, an effective method for writing and deleting them is required. Here, Chen et al demonstrate the writing and deleting of skyrmions at room temperature by using hydrogen adsorption to change the magnetic anisotropy of the metallic multilayer hosting the skyrmions.