title: Magnetism. Blowing magnetic skyrmion bubbles.
abstract: The formation of soap bubbles from thin films is accompanied by topological transitions. Here we show how a magnetic topological structure, a skyrmion bubble, can be generated in a solid-state system in a similar manner. Using an inhomogeneous in-plane current in a system with broken inversion symmetry, we experimentally "blow" magnetic skyrmion bubbles from a geometrical constriction. The presence of a spatially divergent spin-orbit torque gives rise to instabilities of the magnetic domain structures that are reminiscent of Rayleigh-Plateau instabilities in fluid flows. We determine a phase diagram for skyrmion formation and reveal the efficient manipulation of these dynamically created skyrmions, including depinning and motion. The demonstrated current-driven transformation from stripe domains to magnetic skyrmion bubbles could lead to progress in skyrmion-based spintronics.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Wanjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Device Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Pramey
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Upadhyaya
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Device Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: M Benjamin
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Jungfleisch
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Frank Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Fradin
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yaroslav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tserkovnyak
authors.affiliation: Device Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Kang L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Olle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne G E
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: te Velthuis
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA. hoffmann@anl.gov.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoffmann