Giant Topological Hall Effect and Superstable Spontaneous Skyrmions below 330 K in a Centrosymmetric Complex Noncollinear Ferromagnet NdMn2Ge2

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 May 27;12(21):24125-24132. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c04632. Epub 2020 May 14.

Abstract

Skyrmions with topologically nontrivial spin textures are promising information carriers in next-generation ultralow power consumption and high-density spintronic devices. To promote their further development and utilization, the search for new room temperature skyrmion-hosting materials is crucial. Considering that most of the previous skyrmion-hosting materials are noncollinear magnets, here, the detection of the topological Hall effect (THE) and the discovery of skyrmions at room temperature are first reported in a centrosymmetric complex noncollinear ferromagnet NdMn2Ge2. Below 330 K, the compound can host stable Bloch-type skyrmions with about 75 nm diameter in a wide window of magnetic field and temperature, including zero magnetic field and room temperature. Moreover, the skyrmions can induce a giant topological Hall effect in a wide temperature range with a maximum value of -2.05 μΩ cm. These features make the compound attractive for both fundamental research and potential application in novel spintronic devices.

Keywords: NdMn2Ge2; noncollinear ferromagnets; skyrmions; spintronic devices; topological Hall effect.