Effective Manipulation of Skyrmions via Strain Gradient

ABSTRACT Skyrmion‐based devices hold considerable potential for memory, logic, and sensing applications, where precise control over skyrmion density and size is essential. While strain engineering offers an energy‐efficient route to tune these properties, excessive strain can induce plastic deformation in magnetic films or lead to cracking, compromising the reliability of strain‐mediated skyrmion control. Here, we demonstrate strain gradients as an effective additional control parameter in magnetic multilayers. By introducing microscale periodic wrinkled structures in sputtered Pt/Co/Ta multilayers, strain gradients with varying magnitudes and directions are generated. Magnetic force microscopy reveals that both skyrmion density and size vary synchronously with the in‐plane strain gradient, enabling broader tunability than uniform strain approaches. Micromagnetic simulations confirm that these effects arise from strain and strain gradient modulation of the Dzyaloshinskii‐Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy. Moreover, this control strategy is reversible, cyclable, and transferable across different magnetic multilayers, providing a practical avenue for precise skyrmion engineering. This approach offers significant promise for advancing flexible spintronics, skyrmion‐based memory, and neuromorphic computing architectures.