title: Observation of room-temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin metallic ferromagnets.
abstract: Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures that exhibit fascinating physical behaviours and large potential in highly energy-efficient spintronic device applications. The main obstacles so far are that skyrmions have been observed in only a few exotic materials and at low temperatures, and fast current-driven motion of individual skyrmions has not yet been achieved. Here, we report the observation of stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in ultrathin transition metal ferromagnets with magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy. We demonstrate the ability to generate stable skyrmion lattices and drive trains of individual skyrmions by short current pulses along a magnetic racetrack at speeds exceeding 100 m s(-1) as required for applications. Our findings provide experimental evidence of recent predictions and open the door to room-temperature skyrmion spintronics in robust thin-film heterostructures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Seonghoon
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8879-1203
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.|Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz, Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Litzius
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Center for X-ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.|Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 711-873, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Im
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caretta
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kornel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Maxwell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krone
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reeve
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weigand
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Parnika
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1130-8003
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lemesh
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Mohamad-Assaad
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mawass
authors.affiliation: Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.|Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 94056, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9824-9343
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.|Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz, Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4848-2569
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kläui
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Geoffrey S D
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9158-7430
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Beach