Thin-film sub-5 nm magnetic skyrmions constitute an ultimate scaling alternative for future digital data storage. Skyrmions are robust non-collinear spin-textures that can be moved and manipulated by small electrical currents. We show here an innovative technique to detect isolated nanoskyrmions with a current-perpendicular-to-plane geometry, which has immediate implications for device concepts. We explore the physics behind such a mechanism by studying the atomistic electronic structure of the magnetic quasiparticles. We investigate how the isolated skyrmion local-density-of-states which tunnels into the vacuum, when compared to the ferromagnetic background, is modified by the site-dependent spin-mixing of electronic states with different relative canting angles. Local transport properties are sensitive to this effect, as we report an atomistic conductance anisotropy of over 20% for magnetic skyrmions in Pd/Fe/Ir(111) thin-films. In single skyrmions, engineering this spin-mixing magnetoresistance possibly could be incorporated in future magnetic storage technologies.
@article{arxiv.1507.06330,
title = {Perpendicular Reading of Single Confined Magnetic Skyrmions},
author = {Dax M. Crum and Mohammed Bouhassoune and Juba Bouaziz and Benedikt Schweflinghaus and Stefan Blügel and Samir Lounis},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.06330},
year = {2015}
}