Axially bound magnetic skyrmions: glueing topological strings across an interface

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00689

Authors: Kejing Ran (ShanghaiTech University) , Yizhou Liu (RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)) , Haonan Jin (ShanghaiTech University) , Yanyan Shangguan (Nanjing University; China and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures) , Yao Guang (Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) , Jinsheng Wen (Nanjing University; China and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures) , Guoqiang Yu (Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) , Gerrit Van Der Laan (Diamond Light Source) , Thorsten Hesjedal (University of Oxford) , Shilei Zhang (ShanghaiTech University)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nano Letters , VOL 68

State: Published (Approved)
Published: April 2022
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 26148

Abstract: A major challenge in topological magnetism lies in the three-dimensional (3D) exploration of their magnetic textures. A recent focus has been the question of how 2D skyrmion sheets vertically stack to form distinct types of 3D topological strings. Being able to manipulate the vertical coupling should therefore provide a route to the engineering of topological states. Here, we present a new type of axially bound magnetic skyrmion string state in which the strings in two distinct materials are glued together across their interface. With quasi-tomographic resonant elastic X-ray scattering, the 3D skyrmion profiles before and after their binding across the interface were unambiguously determined and compared. Their attractive binding is accompanied by repulsive twisting; i.e., the coupled skyrmions mutually affect each other via a compensating twisting. This state exists in chiral magnet–magnetic thin film heterostructures, providing a new arena for the engineering of 3D topological phases.

Journal Keywords: magnetic skyrmions; topological magnetism; resonant elastic X-ray scattering; 3D magnetic structures

Diamond Keywords: Skyrmions

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I10-Beamline for Advanced Dichroism - scattering

Added On: 25/04/2022 08:19

Documents:
acs.nanolett.2c00689.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Surfaces Quantum Materials Physics Magnetism Materials Science interfaces and thin films

Technical Tags:

Scattering Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering (RSXS)