R&D: Magneto-ionic Vortices, Voltage-Reconfigurable Swirling-spin Analog-memory Nanomagnets

Nature Communications has published an article written by Irena Spasojevic, Zheng Ma, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain, Aleix Barrera, Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Spain, Federica Celegato, Alessandro Magni, Advanced Materials Metrology and Life Sciences, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM), Turin, Italy, Sandra Ruiz-Gómez, Michael Foerster, ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility, Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain, Anna Palau, Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Spain, Paola Tiberto, Advanced Materials Metrology and Life Sciences, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM), Turin, Italy, Kristen S. Buchanan, Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA , and Jordi Sort, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain, and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract: “Rapid progress in information technologies has spurred the need for innovative memory concepts, for which advanced data-processing methods and tailor-made materials are required. Here we introduce a previously unexplored nanoscale magnetic object: an analog magnetic vortex controlled by electric-field-induced ion motion, termed magneto-ionic vortex or “vortion”. This state arises from paramagnetic FeCoN through voltage gating and gradual N^3– ion extraction within patterned nanodots. Unlike traditional vortex states, vortions offer comprehensive analog adjustment of key properties such as magnetization amplitude, nucleation/annihilation fields, or coercivity using voltage as an energy-efficient tuning knob. This manipulation occurs post-synthesis, obviating the need for energy-demanding methods like laser pulses or spin-torque currents. By leveraging an overlooked aspect of N^3– magneto-ionics—planar ion migration within nanodots—precise control of the magnetic layer’s thickness is achieved, which enables reversible transitions among paramagnetic, single-domain, and vortion states, offering future prospects for analog computing, multi-state data storage, or brain-inspired devices.“