Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures that can act as reconfigurable nanoscale information carriers. In synthetic antiferromagnets, interlayer exchange coupling provides a control parameter beyond the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy. Here we engineer a synthetic antiferromagnet of two chemically distinct ferromagnets, CoB and CoFeB, in which the external field and interlayer exchange act asymmetrically on the sublattices. Their competition, acting as an effective field, gives rise to two skyrmion families in different field regimes: conventional-polarity skyrmions at large fields, and inverse-polarity skyrmions at smaller fields, where the effective field reverses sign. Using element-resolved X-ray magnetometry, correlative magnetic force and Lorentz transmission electron microscopies, and micromagnetic modelling, we show that all textures reside solely in the CoFeB layers, driven by a Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida exchange field from the CoB layers. This effective-field route enables programmable three-dimensional spin textures with layer-selected polarity for skyrmion-based computing.

Skyrmions have been proposed as new information carriers in racetrack memory devices. To realize such devices, a small size, high speed of propagation, and minimal skyrmion Hall angle are required. Synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) present the ideal materials systems to realize these aims. In this work, we use micromagnetic simulations to propose a new method for manipulating them using exclusively global magnetic fields. An out-of-plane microwave field induces oscillations in the skyrmion radius, which in turn emits spin waves. When a static in-plane field is added, this breaks the symmetry of the skyrmions and causes asymmetric spin wave emission. This in turn drives the motion of the skyrmions, with the fastest velocities observed at the frequency of the intrinsic out-of-phase breathing mode of the pair of skyrmions. This behavior is investigated over a range of experimentally realistic antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling strengths, and the results are compared to previous works. Through this we demonstrate the true effect of varying the exchange coupling strength and gain greater insight into the mechanism of skyrmion motion. In an attempt to more accurately reproduce experimental SAF samples, we investigate the effect of changing the ratio between the layer magnetizations in the SAF, and demonstrate that maximum velocity can be achieved when there is 100% compensation. We also investigate the differences between excitation mechanisms, using both electric fields and spin transfer torques to excite skyrmion motion. These results will help to inform the design of future novel computing architectures based on the dynamics of skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets.

Magnetic skyrmions are nanoscale spin textures that exhibit topological stability, which, along with novel thermal and electrical transport properties, make them the ideal candidates for a variety of novel technological applications. Accessing the skyrmion spin texture at the nanoscale and understanding its interaction with local thermal gradients is essential for engineering skyrmion-based transport phenomena. However, direct experimental insight into the local thermoelectric response of single skyrmions remains limited. To address this, we employ scanning thermoelectric microscopy (SThEM) to probe the nanoscale thermoelectric response from a single skyrmion. By mapping the local thermoelectric voltage with nanoscale precision, we reveal a unique spatially resolved response that is the convolution of the underlying spin texture of the skyrmion and its interaction with the highly localised thermal gradient originating from the heated probe. We combine this with thermoelectric modelling of a range of skyrmion spin textures to reveal unique thermoelectric responses and allow the possibility of SThEM to be used as a tool to distinguish nanoscale spin textures. These findings provide fundamental insights into the interaction of topologically protected spin textures with local thermal gradients and the resultant spin transport. We demonstrate a novel route to characterise nanoscale spin textures, accelerating the material optimisation cycle, while also opening the possibility to harness skyrmions for spin caloritronics.

Skyrmions have been proposed as new information carriers in racetrack memory devices. To realise such devices, a small size; high speed of propagation; and minimal skyrmion Hall angle are required. Synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) present the ideal materials system to realise these aims. In this work, we use micromagnetic simulations to propose a new method for manipulating them using exclusively global magnetic fields. An out-of-plane microwave field induces oscillations in the skyrmions radius which in turn emits spin waves. When a static in-plane field is added, this breaks the symmetry of the skyrmions and causes asymmetric spin wave emission. This in turn drives motion of the skyrmions, with the fastest velocities observed at the frequency of the intrinsic out-of-phase breathing mode of the pair of skyrmions. This behaviour is investigated over a range of experimentally realistic antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling strengths, and the results compared to previous works studying similar motion driven with an oscillating electric field. Through this the true effect of varying the exchange coupling strength is determined, and greater insight is gained into the mechanism of skyrmion motion. These results will help to inform the design of future novel computing architectures based on the dynamics of skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets.

In synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs), antiferromagnetic (AFM) order and synthesis using conventional sputtering techniques is combined to produce systems that are advantageous for spintronics applications. Here we present the preparation and study of SAF multilayers possessing both perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The multilayers have an antiferromagnetically aligned ground state but can be forced into a full ferromagnetic (FM) alignment by applying an out-of-plane field -100 mT. We study the spin textures in these multilayers in their ground state as well as around the transition point between the AFM and FM states at fields - 40 mT by imaging the spin textures using complementary methods: photoemission electron, magnetic force, and Lorentz transmission electron microscopies. The transformation into a FM state by field proceeds by a nucleation and growth process, where skyrmionic nuclei form and then broaden into regions containing a ferromagnetically aligned labyrinth pattern that eventually occupies the whole film. Remarkably, this process occurs without any significant change in the net magnetic moment of the multilayer. The mix of antiferromagnetically and ferromagnetically aligned regions on the micron scale in the middle of this transition is reminiscent of a first-order phase transition that exhibits phase coexistence. These results are important for guiding the design of spintronic devices whose operation is based on spin textures in perpendicularly magnetized SAFs.

The current-driven motion of magnetic domain walls (DWs) is the working principle of magnetic racetrack memories. In this type of spintronic technology, high current densities are used to propel DW motion in magnetic nanowires, causing significant wire heating. Synthetic antiferromagnets are known to show very fast DW motion at high current densities, but lower current densities around onset of motion have received less attention. Here we use scanning transmission x-ray microscopy to study the response of DWs in a SAF multilayer to currents. We observe that the DWs depin at $\sim 3 \times 10^{11}$~A/m$^2$ and move more quickly in response to 5~ns duration current pulses than in comparable conventional multilayers. The results suggest that DWs in SAF structures are superior to conventional Néel DWs for low energy consumption racetrack technologies.

Synthetic antiferromagnets have great potential as skyrmion carriers in which new properties are expected for these spin textures, owing to changed magnetostatics and the absence of net topological charge. Here we numerically simulate the static and dynamic behaviour of skyrmions in these systems and clearly highlight the benefits compared to ferromagnetic single layers. In particular, our results show a reduction of the skyrmion radius, an increase of their velocity under current, and a vanishing of their topological deflection. We also provide a robust and straightforward analytical model that captures the physics of such skyrmions. Finally, by extending the model to the case of an unbalanced SAF, we show some conditions for the system that optimise the properties of the skyrmion for potential spintronic devices.

Skyrmions are small topologically protected magnetic structures that hold promise for applications from data storage to neuromorphic computing and they have been shown to possess internal microwave frequency excitations. Skyrmions in a synthetic antiferromagnet have been predicted to be smaller and faster than their ferromagnetic equivalents and also shown to possess more internal modes. In this work, we consider the breathing modes of skyrmions in a four repetition synthetic antiferromagnetic multilayer by means of micromagnetic simulations and examine the further splitting of the modes into different arrangements of out-of-phase, in-phase, and modes with more complex phase relationships. This results in a lowering of frequencies, which is promising for skyrmion sensing applications in a synthetic antiferromagnet.

We report studies of spin textures including domain walls and skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnetic multilayers. We have observed: phase coexistence of uniform antiferromagnetic regions with textured ferromagnetic regions during magnetisation; current-driven domain wall motion at lower current densities than in comparable ferromagnetic multilayers; and current-driven nucleation of a synthetic antiferromagnetic skyrmion.

We report small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements of the skyrmion lattice in (Cu0.976Zn0.024)(2)OSe3 under the application of electric and magnetic fields. These measurements show an expansion of the skyrmion lattice stability region with electric field. Furthermore, using time-resolved SANS, we observe the slow formation of skyrmions after an electric or magnetic field is applied, which has not been observed in pristine Cu2OSeO3 crystals. The measured formation times are dramatically longer than the corresponding skyrmion annihilation times after the external field is removed, and increase exponentially from 100 s at 52.5 K to 10 000 s at 51.5 K. This thermally activated behavior indicates an energy barrier for skyrmion formation of 1.57(2) eV, the size of which demonstrates the huge cost for creating these complex chiral objects.