Rapid creation and reversal of skyrmion in spin-valve nanopillars

Abstract Skyrmions are nanoscale and topologically protected objects, which are promising candidates for information carriers of magnetic storage devices. To this end, the rapid creation and manipulation of a single skyrmion is required. In this work, a spin-valve device with a single-skyrmion reference layer is considered. Using micromagnetic simulations, we find that a skyrmion is likely to nucleate in the free layer as a picosecond current pulse is applied. In addition, we also demonstrate that the skyrmion in the free layer can be reversed by injecting an alternating current. It is promising that such a study can benefit the development of skyrmion-based storage devices.