Investigations of the skyrmion Hall effect reveal surprising results (Update)

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have made a breakthrough in the field of future magnetic storage devices. In March 2016, the international team investigated structures that could serve as magnetic-shift register or racetrack memory devices. This type of storage promises low access times, high information density, and low energy consumption. Now, the research team has achieved the billion-fold reproducible motion of special magnetic textures, so-called skyrmions, between different positions, a key process needed in magnetic shift registers, thereby taking a critical step toward the application of skyrmions in devices. The work was published in the research journal Nature Physics.