Visualization of Skyrmion-Superconducting Vortex Pairs in a Chiral-Magnet–Superconductor Heterostructure

Magnetic skyrmions, the topological states possessing chiral magnetic structure with nontrivial topology, have been widely investigated as a promising candidate for spintronic devices. They can also couple with superconducting vortices to form skyrmion-vortex pairs, hosting Majorana zero mode, which is a potential candidate for topological quantum computing. Many theoretical proposals have been put forward on constructing skyrmion-vortex pairs in heterostructures of chiral magnets and superconductors. Nevertheless, how to generate skyrmion-vortex pairs in a controllable way experimentally remains a significant challenge. We have designed a heterostructure of a chiral magnet and superconductor [Ta/Ir/CoFeB/MgO]_{7}/Nb in which zero field Néel-type skyrmions can be stabilized and the superconducting vortices can couple with the skyrmions when Nb is in the superconducting state. We have directly observed the formation of skyrmion-superconducting vortex pairs that is dependent on the direction of the applied magnetic field. Our results provide an effective method to manipulate the quantum states of skyrmions with the help of superconducting vortices, which can be used to explore new routines to control the skyrmions for spintronics devices.