The skyrmion, a vortex-like spin-swirling object, is anticipated to play a vital role in quantum magneto-transport processes such as the quantum Hall and topological Hall effects. The existence of the magnetic skyrmion crystal (SkX) state was recently verified experimentally for MnSi and Fe(0.5)Co(0.5)Si by means of small-angle neutron scattering and Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. However, to enable the application of such a SkX for spintronic function, materials problems such as a low crystallization temperature and low stability of SkX have to be overcome. Here we report the formation of SkX close to room temperature in thin-films of the helimagnet FeGe. In addition to the magnetic twin structure, we found a magnetic chirality inversion of the SkX across lattice twin boundaries. Furthermore, for thin crystal plates with thicknesses much smaller than the SkX lattice constant (as) the two-dimensional SkX is quite stable over a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields, whereas for quasi-three-dimensional films with thicknesses over as the SkX is relatively unstable and observed only around the helical transition temperature. The room-temperature stable SkX state as promised by this study will pave a new path to designing quantum-effect devices based on the controllable skyrmion dynamics.

The manipulation of spin textures with electric currents is an important challenge in the field of spintronics. many attempts have been made to electrically drive magnetic domain walls in ferromagnets, yet the necessary current density remains quite high (~10 7 A cm − 2 ). A recent neutron study combining Hall effect measurements has shown that an ultralow current density of J~10 2 A cm − 2 can trigger the rotational and translational motion of the skyrmion lattice in mnsi, a helimagnet, within a narrow temperature range. Raising the temperature range in which skyrmions are stable and reducing the current required to drive them are therefore desirable objectives. Here we demonstrate near-room-temperature motion of skyrmions driven by electrical currents in a microdevice composed of the helimagnet FeGe, by using in-situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. The rotational and translational motions of skyrmion crystal begin under critical current densities far below 100 A cm − 2 .

This letter reports a β-SiAlON:Eu2+ green phosphor with the composition of Eu0.00296Si0.41395Al0.01334O0.0044N0.56528. The phosphor powder exhibits a rod-like morphology with the length of ∼4μm and the diameter of ∼0.5μm. It can be excited efficiently over a broad spectral range between 280 and 480 nm, and has an emission peak at 535 nm with a full width at half maximum of 55 nm. It has a superior color chromaticity of x=0.32 and y=0.64. The internal and external quantum efficiencies of this phosphor is 70% and 61% at λex=303nm, respectively. This newly developed green phosphor has potential applications in phosphor-converted white LEDs.

It was recently realized that topological spin textures do not merely have mathematical beauty but can also give rise to unique functionalities of magnetic materials. An example is the skyrmion—a nano-sized bundle of noncoplanar spins—that by virtue of its nontrivial topology acts as a flux of magnetic field on spin-polarized electrons. Lorentz transmission electron microscopy recently emerged as a powerful tool for direct visualization of skyrmions in noncentrosymmetric helimagnets. Topologically, skyrmions are equivalent to magnetic bubbles (cylindrical domains) in ferromagnetic thin films, which were extensively explored in the 1970s for data storage applications. In this study we use Lorentz microscopy to image magnetic domain patterns in the prototypical magnetic oxide–M-type hexaferrite with a hint of scandium. Surprisingly, we find that the magnetic bubbles and stripes in the hexaferrite have a much more complex structure than the skyrmions and spirals in helimagnets, which we associate with the new degree of freedom—helicity (or vector spin chirality) describing the direction of spin rotation across the domain walls. We observe numerous random reversals of helicity in the stripe domain state. Random helicity of cylindrical domain walls coexists with the positional order of magnetic bubbles in a triangular lattice. Most unexpectedly, we observe regular helicity reversals inside skyrmions with an unusual multiple-ring structure.

The magnetic skyrmion is a topologically stable spin texture in which the constituent spins point to all the directions wrapping a sphere. Generation and control of nanometric magnetic skyrmions have large potential, for example, reduced power consumption, in spintronics device applications. Here we show the real-space observation of a biskyrmion, as defined by a molecular form of two bound skyrmions with the total topological charge of 2, realized under magnetic field applied normal to a thin plate of a bilayered manganite with centrosymmetric structure. In terms of a Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we have observed a distorted-triangle lattice of biskyrmion crystal, each composed of two bound skyrmions with oppositely swirling spins (magnetic helicities). Furthermore, we demonstrate that these biskyrmions can be electrically driven with orders of magnitude lower current density (o10 8 A m À 2 ) than that for the conventional ferromagnetic domain walls.