Proposal for All-Electrical Skyrmion Detection in van der Waals Tunnel Junctions.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38350134.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c04238.
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Abstract
A major challenge for magnetic skyrmions in atomically thin van der Waals (vdW) materials is reliable skyrmion detection. Here, based on rigorous first-principles calculations, we show that all-electrical skyrmion detection is feasible in two-dimensional vdW magnets via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and in planar tunnel junctions. We use the nonequilibrium Green's function method for quantum transport in planar junctions, including self-energy due to electrodes and working conditions, going beyond the standard Tersoff-Hamann approximation. We obtain a very large tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) around the Fermi energy for a graphite/Fe<sub>3</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub>/germanene/graphite vdW tunnel junction. For atomic-scale skyrmions, the noncollinear magnetoresistance (NCMR) reaches giant values. We trace the origin of the NCMR to spin mixing between spin-up and -down states of p<sub><i>z</i></sub> and d<sub><i>z</i><sup>2</sup></sub> character at the surface atoms. Both TAMR and NCMR are drastically enhanced in tunnel junctions with respect to STM geometry due to orbital symmetry matching at the interface.