We fabricate devices in which a magnetic nanopillar spin valve makes contact to a Co/Pt bilayer thin film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, in order to achieve local control of domains in the Co/Pt bilayer underneath the nanopillar. The goal is to develop the ability to nucleate, detect, and annihilate magnetic skyrmions in the Co/Pt using spin-polarized currents from the nanopillar. We demonstrate the ability to distinguish the local behavior of the Co/Pt film beneath the nanopillar from the extended film and show that the two can switch independently of each other. This allows us to isolate a localized domain under the pillar that can be controlled separately from the rest of the Co/Pt film using applied currents and magnetic fields. Micromagnetic simulations indicate that this localized domain has skyrmion symmetry. Our results represent a first step toward controlling room-temperature skyrmions using localized spin-transfer torque.
@article{arxiv.1712.07201,
title = {Creation of Localized Skyrmion Bubbles in Co/Pt Bilayers using a Spin Valve Nanopillar},
author = {Jennifer L. Grab and Alison E. Rugar and Daniel C. Ralph},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.07201},
year = {2018}
}