Room-temperature skyrmions in strain-engineered FeGe thin films

Published

June 8, 2020

Author(s)

Sujan Budhathoki, Arjun Sapkota, Ka M. Law, Smriti Ranjit, Bhuwan Nepal, Brian Hoskins, Arashdeep S. Thind, Albina Y. Borisevich, Michelle E. Jamer, Travis J. Anderson, Andrew D. Koehler, Karl D. Hobart, Gregory M. Stephen, Don Heiman, Tim Mewes, Rohan Mishra, James C. Gallagher, Adam J. Hauser

Abstract

Skyrmion electronics hold great promise for low energy consumption and stable high information density, and stabilization of Skyrmion lattice (SkX) phase at or above room temperature is greatly desired for practical use. Topological Hall Effect can be used to identify candidate systems at or above room temperature, a challenging regime for direct observation by Lorentz electron microscopy. Atomically ordered FeGe thin films have been grown epitaxially on Ge(111) substrates with 4% tensile strain. Magnetic characterization reveals strain enhancement of Curie temperature to 350 K, well above the bulk value of 278 K. Strong topological Hall effect is observed from 10 to 330K, including a significant increase at 330K, consistent with the relative temperature of SkX phase in bulk-like FeGe films. The results suggest that strained FeGe films may host a SkX phase above room temperature when significant tensile strain is applied.

Citation

Physical Review B

Volume

101

Issue

22

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.220405

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Keywords

skyrmions, magnetism

Citation

Budhathoki, S. , Sapkota, A. , Law, K. , Ranjit, S. , Nepal, B. , Hoskins, B. , Thind, A. , Borisevich, A. , Jamer, M. , Anderson, T. , Koehler, A. , Hobart, K. , Stephen, G. , Heiman, D. , Mewes, T. , Mishra, R. , Gallagher, J. and Hauser, A. (2020), Room-temperature skyrmions in strain-engineered FeGe thin films, Physical Review B, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.220405, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=929545 (Accessed October 9, 2025)