Fig. 1
From: Strain-mediated voltage-controlled switching of magnetic skyrmions in nanostructures
Architecture. a, Schematic of the interfacial DMI in juxtaposed magnetic and heavy-metal layers. S1 and S2 denote the spins of two neighboring atoms in the magnetic layer that are exchange coupled through an atom of large spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in an adjacent heavy-metal layer. D12 is the DM vector which is parallel to the interface and perpendicular to the triangle of the three atoms. b, Heterostructures for strain-mediated voltage (U)-controlled switching of magnetic skyrmions: (from top to bottom) a capping layer; a ferromagnetic (FM) nanodisk with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and robust magnetoelastic coupling; a heavy-metal (HM) underlayer; a piezoelectric layer; an electrode. The capping layer can be a non-magnetic oxide or a dissimilar heavy metal to enhance the PMA and/or the interfacial DMI strength. c, Schematics of two degenerate Néel skyrmions induced by interfacial DMI with a positive average strength D
