Quantifying the polar skyrmion motion barrier in an oxide heterostructure

Abstract

Exotic polar topologies such as polar skyrmions have been widely observed in ferroelectric superlattice systems. The dynamic motion of polar skyrmions under external forces holds promise for applications in advanced electronic devices such as race-track memory. Meanwhile, the polar skyrmion motion has proven to be challenging due to the strong skyrmion–skyrmion interaction and a lack of a mechanism similar to the spin-transfer torque. In this study, we have developed a nudged elastic band (NEB) method to quantify the polar skyrmion motion barrier along a specific trajectory. It is indicated that the skyrmion motion barrier can be significantly reduced with the reduction of the periodicity to 8 uc, due to the large reduction of the skyrmion size. Moreover, this barrier can also be greatly reduced with a small external electric potential. Following the analysis, we further performed phase-field simulation to verify the collective motion of the polar skyrmion. We have demonstrated the collective skyrmion motion by applying a 5 μN mechanical force using a blade-shaped indenter with a periodicity of 8 unit cells, under an external applied voltage of 1.5 V. This study further paves the way for the design of polar skyrmion-based electronic devices.