Design of Polar Skyrmion‐Based Nanoelectronic Prototype Devices with Phase‐Field Simulations

Abstract

The creation and manipulation of complex topological states like vortex and skyrmion in ferroelectric heterostructures have received significant attention recently across various fields, due to the rich physical insights, exotic properties, and wide potential applications. Although progress has been made in the synthesis, local manipulation, and dynamic motion of these tiny quasi‐particles, the design of skyrmion‐based nanoelectronic prototype devices is still lacking. Herein, using phase‐field simulations, the idea is to integrate the polar skyrmions in a PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattice system with a local charged tip/small electrode and a skyrmion counter to design several nanoelectronics prototype devices, such as the skyrmion switch and multistate memory. In this design, the topological charge of the system serves as the “bit”. Phase diagrams to display the change in topological charges are constructed under different operation conditions such as tip radius and applied potential. By varying the applied electric potential, up to ten topological states can be achieved. Asymmetric topological transitions are observed, where the change in topological charge is greater under negative potential due to different switching routes wi applied electric fields along different directions. It is hoped that this work will inspire further research in polar‐skyrmion‐based electronic devices.