A new class of chiral materials hosting magnetic skyrmions beyond room temperature

Magnetic skyrmions are tiny, magnetic-spin vortices that can emerge in magnetic materials. Due to their nanometric size, skyrmions could be used to build extremely high density memory spintronics devices. However, stable skyrmions are not easy to find and control, and are usually only observed well below room temperature. Here we report the discovery that engineered alloys of cobalt, zinc and manganese are a new class of material that display chiral and stable skyrmions both at, and beyond room temperature. This breakthrough means that skyrmions can be readily integrated into new spintronics devices without needing complicated cooling systems. This project is led by scientists at RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, Japan. Scientists from LNS and EPFL used small-angle neutron scattering at SINQ to prove that when a magnetic field was applied these materials indeed display skyrmions at high temperatures.