Size and density control of skyrmions with picometer CoFeB thickness variations—observation of zero-field skyrmions and skyrmion merging

Abstract

The controlled formation and adjustment of size and density of magnetic skyrmions in Ta/CoFeB/MgO trilayers with low Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is demonstrated. Close to the out-of-plane to in-plane magnetic spin reorientation transition, we find that small energy contributions enable skyrmion formation in a narrow window of 20 pm in CoFeB thickness. Zero-field stable skyrmions are established with proper magnetic field initialization within a 10 pm CoFeB thickness range. Using magneto-optical imaging with quantitative image processing, variations in skyrmion distribution and diameter are analyzed quantitatively, the latter for sizes well below the optical resolution limit. We demonstrate the controlled merging of individual skyrmions. The overall demonstrated degree of comprehension of skyrmion control aids to the development of envisioned skyrmion based magnetic memory devices.