Tailoring optical excitation to control magnetic skyrmion nucleation
Lisa‐Marie Kern, Bastian Pfau, Michael Schneider, Kathinka Gerlinger, Victor Deinhart, Steffen Wittrock, Themistoklis P. H. Sidiropoulos, Dieter Engel, I. Will, C. Günther, Kai Litzius, Sebastian Wintz, Markus Weigand, Felix Büttner, Stefan Eisebitt
Abstract
A single laser pulse can create nanometer-scale magnetic skyrmions in a thin film ferromagnet. However, the skyrmions appear randomly distributed within the excited film area hampering application of the process. Here, the authors present a reliable approach to gain nanometer spatial control over the skyrmions' positions: reflective masks fabricated on the material's backside locally affect the optical excitation amplitudes reached. The backside masks precisely define preferred and inhibited regions for skyrmion nucleation while maintaining frontside access to the magnetic film.