Ultrafast manipulation of Néel-type merons using electric field pulses

Abstract

A nanoscale meron, as a type of topological magnetic soliton with half topological charge, can function as a quantum mechanical object whose core spin (polarity) represents the qubit states |0⟩ and |1⟩. Here, we demonstrate ultrafast steering of Néel-type merons through a simple sequence of picosecond electric field pulses via magnetoelectric interactions. All four distinct meron states exhibit well-defined switching behavior. Both volatile and nonvolatile control of the meron polarity are achieved using step and half-cycle pulses, respectively. Our approach offers an energy-efficient and localized method for controlling high density storage and fast logic computations based on nanoscale merons.