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Researchers from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have succeeded in creating three-dimensional skyrmions, so-called hybrid skyrmion tubes, in synthetic antiferromagnets and have demonstrated for the first time that these skyrmion tubes move differently than two-dimensional skyrmions.
Typically, the charge of electrons is used to store and process information in electronics based devices. In spintronics, the focus is instead on the magnetic moment or on magnetic vortices, so-called skyrmions – the goal is smaller, faster, and more sustainable computers. To further increase storage density, skyrmions will not only be two-dimensional in the future, but will also conquer the third dimension. Researchers from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now succeeded in creating three-dimensional skyrmions, so-called hybrid skyrmion tubes, in synthetic antiferromagnets and have demonstrated for the first time that these skyrmion tubes move differently than two-dimensional skyrmions. "Three-dimensional skyrmions are of interest for quantum computing and brain-inspired computing, among other things – here the higher storage density resulting from the third dimension is essential," says Mona Bhukta from Professor Mathias Kläui's research group. The results were published on September 26 in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications.
Although skyrmions are magnetic vortices, they behave like particles. This means, among other things, that they can be moved by an electric current. Skyrmions are usually created in thin magnetic layers and thus in two dimensions; the first three-dimensional skyrmion tubes have already been detected. However, these 3D skyrmions were evenly twisted, which is referred to as homogeneous chirality. This means they move in the same way as skyrmions in two dimensions and offer no added value for data storage, as their information can be represented just as well on a single plane. "We have now been able to create skyrmion tubes in synthetic antiferromagnets – that is, thinfilmusing standard deposition methods whose magnetization cancels outwards – and demonstrate for the first time that these skyrmion tubes move completely differently than skyrmions in two dimensions," says Bhukta. The reason for this lies in the structure of the new skyrmion tubes: Unlike previously created ones, they are not uniformly twisted, but unevenly. This leads to – to put it simply – they move differently than in 2D systems. These differences in movement can be used for information storage, thus opening up a third dimension for data storage.
The new skyrmion tubes were manufactured at JGU, and their three-dimensional structure was verified at the Jülich Research Center. Synchrotron sources at the BESSY II (Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy) and at the Swiss Light Source of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, were used to study the movement of the skyrmion tubes.
The results are important, among other things, for so-called brain-inspired computing: data is to be processed not via digital electronics, but via neurons, i.e., nerve cells, and synapses – with the goal of creating more powerful, energy-efficient, and flexible systems for complex tasks. "Three-dimensional skyrmions allow us to better mimic neurons," says Bhukta. "The step into the third dimension is also essential in quantum computing."
Mona Bhukta
Institut of Physics
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
55099 Mainz
e-mail: mobhukta@uni-mainz.de
https://www.klaeui-lab.physik.uni-mainz.de/
T. Dohi et al., Observation of a non-reciprocal skyrmion Hall effect of hybrid chiral skyrmion tubes in synthetic antiferromagnetic multilayers, Nature Communications, 26. September 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63759-7,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63759-7
https://press.uni-mainz.de/merons-realized-in-synthetic-antiferromagnets/ – press release "Merons realized in synthetic antiferromagnets" (27 Feb. 2024)
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