Magnetic skyrmions are compact chiral spin textures that exhibit a rich variety of topological phenomena and hold potential for the development of high-density memory devices and novel computing schemes driven by spin currents. In this invited talk, we will demonstrate the room-temperature interfacial stabilization and current-driven control of skyrmion bubbles in the ferrimagnetic insulator Tm3Fe5O12 coupled to Pt, showing the current-induced motion of individual skyrmion bubbles (1). The ferrimagnetic order of the crystal together with the interplay of spin–orbit torques and pinning determine the skyrmion dynamics in Tm3Fe5O12 and result in a strong skyrmion Hall effect characterized by a negative deflection angle and hopping motion. Further, we will show that the velocity and depinning threshold of the skyrmion bubbles can be modified by exchange coupling Tm3Fe5O12 to an in-plane magnetized Y3Fe5O12 layer, which distorts the spin texture of the skyrmions and leads to directional-dependent rectification of their dynamics. This effect, which is equivalent to a magnetic ratchet, is exploited to control the skyrmion flow in a racetrack-like device.

References:
(1) S. Vélez et al., Nature Nanotechnology (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01144-x