OAM Driven Nucleation of Sub-50 nm Compact Antiferromagnetic Skyrmions

Owing to their high mobility and immunity to topological deflection, skyrmions in antiferromagnetic (AFM) systems are gaining attention as a potential solution for next-generation magnetic data storage. Synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) offer a promising avenue to tune the properties of the individual magnetic layers, facilitating the conditions necessary for skyrmions to be used in practical devices. Despite recent advancements achieving fast skyrmion mobility, the nucleation of small and rigid circular skyrmions without an external field remains challenging in SAFs. Theoretical predictions suggest that optical vortex (OAM) beams can stabilize skyrmionic spin textures by transferring their spin and orbital angular momentum to the magnetic material. Here, this intriguing proposal is delved into and the creation of sub-50 nm compact skyrmions in SAFs using OAM beams is successfully demonstrated, eliminating the need for external magnetic fields. Additionally, the results underscore the importance of beam energy and the number of pulses, as both factors play critical roles in the stabilization of these AFM skyrmionic textures. This breakthrough is significant as it paves the way for stabilizing true zero-field skyrmions in AFM systems, where magnetization is minimally affected by external magnetic fields. This work will open a potential avenue for stabilizing small, compact skyrmions in antiferroic systems, facilitating their implementation in logic and memory devices.