Strong interfacial coupling induced topological spin textures in two-dimensional magnetic heterostructures
Phys. Rev. B 114, 264405 – Published 4 November, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/36v9-dbmj
Abstract
The broken inversion symmetry inherent in two-dimensional (2D) magnetic heterostructures makes them promising candidates for realizing topological spin textures. However, most experimentally fabricated magnetic heterostructures exhibit weak interlayer coupling, resulting in inadequate Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and consequently precluding the stabilization of robust topological spin textures. Using first-principles calculations, we construct thermodynamically stable and experimentally feasible /germanene and /silicene heterostructures, where strong interfacial DMI arises to enable the stabilization of topological spin textures. Detailed micromagnetic simulations reveal that considering only the nearest-neighboring magnetic interactions leads to bimeron/meron states in both heterostructures, whereas the inclusion of the next-nearest-neighboring (NNN) magnetic interactions enables the stabilization of skyrmion states. Further investigations show that the magnetic phase transition from bimeron/meron to skyrmion states originates from a significant enhancement of the DMI-to-Heisenberg exchange ratio (||) between the NNN Mn-Mn pairs in and layers. This study highlights strong interfacial coupling as a viable route for inducing substantial DMI in 2D magnetic heterostructures, paving the way for the rational design of skyrmion-based logic and memory devices.