Ultra-sensitive voltage-controlled skyrmion-based spintronic diode

Abstract

We have designed a passive spintronic diode based on a single skyrmion stabilized in a magnetic tunnel junction and studied its dynamics induced by voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (VDMI). We have demonstrated that the sensitivity (rectified output voltage over input microwave power) with realistic physical parameters and geometry can be larger than 10 kV W−1 which is one order of magnitude larger than diodes employing a uniform ferromagnetic state. Our numerical and analytical results on the VCMA and VDMI-driven resonant excitation of skyrmions beyond the linear regime reveal a frequency dependence on the amplitude and no efficient parametric resonance. Skyrmions with a smaller radius produced higher sensitivities, demonstrating the efficient scalability of skyrmion-based spintronic diodes. These results pave the way for designing passive ultra-sensitive and energy efficient skyrmion-based microwave detectors.