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DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2017.178

In the format provided by the authors and unedited.

Field-free deterministic ultrafast creation of

Supplementary Information to: Field-free deterministic ultra
magnetic skyrmions by spin–orbit torques
fast creation of skyrmions by spin orbit torques

Felix Büttner ∗, Ivan Lemesh ∗, Michael Schneider, Bastian Pfau, Christian M. Günther,

Piet Hessing, Jan Geilhufe, Lucas Caretta, Dieter Engel, Benjamin Krüger, Jens Viefhaus,

Stefan Eisebitt, and Geoffrey S. D. Beach

July 11, 2017

1 Theory of quasi-static spin orbit torque switching

Consider a unit cell in a micromagnetic model, i.e., a finite area in a ferromagnetic element in which the

magnetic moments are approximately all parallel. The dynamics of the normalized magnetic moment m of

this cell is governed by the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonczewski equation [1–3]

m
 = −γm × h + αm × m,
 (1)

h = Heff + a j m × p + b j p. (2)

Here, γ = 1.76 × 1011 As/kg is the gyromagnetic ratio and Heff is the effective magnetostatic field that
includes the effect of anisotropy, exchange, demagnetization, and DMI. p is a unit vector in the direction of the
magnetic moments that are injected into the ferromagnet, determined by p = sign(θ SH )j × n, where n is the
surface normal of the heavy metal. Assuming a material with positive θ SH (such as Pt) below the ferromagnet
∗ These authors contributed equally to this work

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a 0.2 b c

0.0
mx , my , mz

−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
−0.8
−1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
aj /Hz

Figure S1 | Static switching via SOT. Static components of m as a function of constant (DC) SOT current. mx , my ,
and mz are depicted by blue, green, and red lines, respectively. a, At Hx = −0.1Hz . b, Without in-plane fields. c, At
Hx = 0.1Hz . Switching (to positive mz ) is observed in a only.

(n = ẑ) and a SOT current pulse in +x direction (electrons motion along −x), the polarization unit vector

p is given by p = + x̂ × ẑ = − ŷ. The parameters a j and b j are the field strengths of the damping-like and
field-like torques, respectively, and both are proportional to the injected current density. The parameter a j is
determined via

 
 θ SH J 

µ0 a j =  ,
2eMs tm 
(3)

where  is the reduced Planck constant, e is the elementary charge, Ms is the saturation magnetization and
tm is the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer. Note that the sign of the current and the sign of the spin Hall
angle are already taken into account in the polarization vector p, hence the absolute value is taken for a j . For
a multilayer in an effective medium approach [4], a j can equivalently be expressed as

 
 N θ SH J 

µ0 a j =  ,
2eMs d 
(4)

where N is the number of layers, Ms = Ms tm /tr is the effective medium saturation magnetization and d = Ntr
is the total film thickness with tr being the thickness of one repeat, including one ferromagnetic layer and one
non-magnetic spacer layer. The spin Hall angle θ SH of Pt has been reported to be approximately 0.07 (see,
e.g., Refs. [5, 6] and references therein). There are much fewer reports on the magnitude of b j , but existing
evidence supports it to be smaller than a j [7].
We now search for static solutions: m
 = 0, meaning that either m = ch with a scalar parameter c, or h = 0.

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These linear equations can be solved analytically with the additional constraint of |m| = 1. For the particularly
relevant case of h y = 0 (internal and applied fields Hy compensate the field-like term), the solution is plotted
in Fig. S1. Analytically, we obtain

aj
mx = , (5)
Hz

Hz2 − a2j
mz = , (6)
Hz

which explains the linear increase of m x with a j (or, equivalently, with the current density j). However, for
a j > Hz , there is no real valued solution. Hence, at the critical current density corresponding to a j = Hz
[8], h = 0 is the only option. It is worth writing out h = 0 into its individual components. For p = − ŷ and

Heff = (Hx, Hy, Hz ):

Hx = −a j mz,

Hy = b j , (7)

Hz = a j m x .

This simple set of equations fully explains the physics of quasi-static SOT switching. First, we see that
a negative Hx is required to obtain a positive mz , i.e., to switch from negative to positive mz , which is in
agreement with the literature [5, 8]. Second, there must be a Hy field component to cancel the FL-SOT. And
third, m y points along p with a magnitude so that m is normalized and Eq. (7) is satisfied.
Finally, note that the temporal evolution of m for intermediate and large dampings α ≤ 0.03 follows a
 = 0. Indeed, for a j > Hz , it has been reported that m  h is fulfilled initially and
quasi-static path of m

abruptly changes to h = 0 once |mz | < 1/2 [8].

2 Hysteresis loops

In Fig. S2 we present the hysteresis loops corresponding to the samples in the main paper. Figs. S2a and b

show vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) data of a reference sample and Figs. S2c–d show out-of-plane
hysteresis loops obtained by focused magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements on the actual wires

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1.5 1.5

1.0 a 1.0 b
0.5 0.5
M [MA/ m]

M [MA/ m]
0.0 0.0

− 0.5 − 0.5

− 1.0 − 1.0

− 1.5 − 1.5
− 150 − 100 − 50 0 50 100 150 − 1000 − 500 0 500 1000
µ0H z [mT] µ0H z [mT]

1.5 1.5 1.5

1.0 c 1.0 d 1.0 e

0.5 0.5 0.5
M / Ms

M / Ms

M / Ms
0.0 0.0 0.0

− 0.5 − 0.5 − 0.5

− 1.0 − 1.0 − 1.0

− 1.5 − 1.5 − 1.5

− 60 − 40 − 20 0 20 40 60 − 60 − 40 − 20 0 20 40 60 − 60 − 40 − 20 0 20 40 60
µ0H z [mT] µ0H z [mT] µ0H z [mT]

Figure S2 | Hysteresis loops of the samples in the main text. a, Out-of-plane loop of a calibration sample measured
by VSM. b, In-plane loop of a calibration sample measured by VSM. c–e, Focused MOKE measurements of the out-
of-plane loops of the magnetic tracks on the Si3 N4 membranes before further patterning with the focused ion beam. c,
d, and e correspond to the samples of Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4 of the main paper, respectively.

of the samples of Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the main paper, respectively. Note that the calibration sample was grown

in a later batch and the Co60 Fe20 B20 layers are estimated to be 5 % thicker compared to the membrane samples.
Also, we generally observe slightly different magnetic properties of shadow-mask patterned magnetic tracks

compared to continuous film samples of the same material. This explains why the reference sample has a

sheared loop while the nanowires on the membrane samples show square loops. The magnetic parameters that
we use in the simulations are hence approximate estimates of the corresponding parameters of the experimental

samples. However, the qualitative nucleation mechanism that we observe in the simulations is robust against
variations of the material properties and remains applicable.

References

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