Ion Irradiation Effects on Magnetic Properties of Thin Films

Ion irradiation has emerged as a versatile tool to tailor the magnetic behaviour of thin films by inducing controlled structural disorder, interfacial mixing and defect formation. By selecting ion species, energy and fluence, researchers can tune perpendicular and in-plane anisotropy, modify exchange stiffness and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions, and localise variations in saturation magnetisation. These modifications enable precise manipulation of domain-wall motion, stabilisation of topological spin textures such as skyrmions and antiskyrmions, and reduction of switching currents in spin-orbit torque devices. The resulting ability to engineer magnetic landscapes at the nanoscale holds promise for energy-efficient memory, logic and sensing applications, linking fundamental studies of defect-driven magnetism with emerging spintronic technologies.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated the creation of artificial skyrmions and antiskyrmions in Co/Pt multilayers by selectively reducing perpendicular anisotropy through ion irradiation. Aberration-corrected Lorentz transmission electron microscopy combined with micromagnetic simulations revealed that tailored anisotropy gradients stabilise a variety of topological spin configurations at room temperature, offering new platforms for investigating skyrmion dynamics. In related work, helium-ion irradiation of multilayers with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction has been used to fine-tune the DMI strength and anisotropy via controlled interface modification. Magnetometry, ferromagnetic resonance and Brillouin light scattering measurements show that fluence-dependent intermixing provides an external degree of freedom for skyrmion control. More recently, helium irradiation has been applied to optimise spin–orbit torque switching efficiency, revealing that fluence-induced increases in heavy-metal resistivity and reductions in surface anisotropy energy lower the critical current for deterministic magnetisation reversal, pointing towards irradiation-based device engineering strategies.

Ion Irradiation Effects on Magnetic Properties of Thin Films publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ion irradiation effects on magnetic properties of thin films across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ion irradiation: Bombardment of a material with energetic ions to induce structural, chemical and magnetic modifications.

Magnetic anisotropy: The dependence of magnetic energy on the direction of magnetisation within a material.

Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI): An antisymmetric exchange interaction that favours chiral spin textures such as skyrmions.

Skyrmion: A topologically protected, vortex-like spin configuration with potential for information storage and processing.

Spin–orbit torque (SOT): A torque on local magnetisation generated by spin currents arising from charge currents in heavy metals.

Domain wall: The nanoscale boundary separating magnetic domains of differing magnetisation orientation.

References

1. Creation of artificial skyrmions and antiskyrmions by anisotropy engineering. Scientific Reports (2016).
2. Tailoring interfacial effect in multilayers with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction by helium ion irradiation. Scientific Reports (2021).
3. Improved spin–orbit torque induced magnetization switching efficiency by helium ion irradiation. Scientific Reports (2022).
4. Ga+ Ion Irradiation-Induced Tuning of Artificial Pinning Sites to Control Domain Wall Motion. ACS Applied Electronic Materials (2023).
5. Enhancement of skyrmion density via interface engineering. APL Materials (2023).
6. Controlled Individual Skyrmion Nucleation at Artificial Defects Formed by Ion Irradiation. Small (2020).