Bei Ding, Yadong Wang, Jiahui Meng, Xuejin Wan, Qingping Wang, Xinxing Xu, Yu Zhu, Minghui Qin, Xingsen Gao, Xiaoyan Zhong, Furong Chen, Jiawen Chen, Yangfan Hu, Xuewen Fu, Zhipeng Hou(侯志鹏), Junming Liu(刘俊明)

Multistep skyrmion phase transition driven by light-induced uniaxial strain

Science Advances 11, eadt2698 (2025)

Strain engineering in skyrmion-hosting multilayers holds promising potential for spintronic devices. However, conventional strain is below 0.5%, limiting exploration of unique properties under substantial strain. In addition, while uniaxial strain modifies magnetic interactions anisotropically, its influence on skyrmions is underexplored. Here, we integrate skyrmion-hosting multilayers with a flexible liquid crystal film, enabling multistep skyrmion phase transitions through light-induced uniaxial strain up to 1%. Our results demonstrate that skyrmion transitions are sensitive to strain magnitude and orientation. Strain below 0.6% parallel to stripes transforms them into skyrmions. Above 0.6%, skyrmions elongate perpendicularly to the strain direction, exhibiting a negative Poisson effect, with deformation up to 40% at 0.8% strain. Further strain reverts skyrmions back into stripes. Micromagnetic simulations reveal that these phenomena stem from strain-induced anisotropic modulation of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This approach, which combines flexibility, light activation, and substantial uniaxial strain, offers a promising strategy for low-power, multistate spintronic devices.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt2698