Researchers at Berkeley Lab have advanced the understanding of magnetic skyrmions by developing techniques to image their 3D structures.
These nanoscale objects show promise for revolutionizing microelectronics through enhanced data storage capabilities and reduced energy consumption.
A difficult-to-describe nanoscale structure called the magnetic skyrmion holds potential for creating advanced microelectronic devices, including those with vast data storage capacities and significantly lower power requirements.
However, to reliably integrate skyrmions into future computational devices—potentially even quantum computers—researchers need a more thorough understanding of their properties. Peter Fischer, a senior researcher at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), led a project using 3D X-ray imaging to capture detailed views of skyrmions, specifically measuring the orientations of their magnetic spins throughout the entire object. “Our results provide a foundation for nanoscale metrology for spintronics devices,” Fischer said. This work was recently published in Science Advances.
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