X-ray holographic imaging of magnetic surface spirals in FeGe lamellae

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.064422

Authors: L. A. Turnbull (Durham University) , M. T. Littlehales (Durham University) , M. N. Wilson (Durham University) , M. T. Birch (Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems) , H. Popescu (Synchrotron SOLEI) , N. Jaouen (Synchrotron SOLEI) , J. A. T. Verezhak (University of Warwick) , G. Balakrishnan (University of Warwick) , P. D. Hatton (Durham University)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Physical Review B , VOL 106

State: Published (Approved)
Published: August 2022
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 27196

Abstract: Isotropic helimagnets are known to host a diverse range of chiral magnetic states. In 2016, Rybakov et al., theorized the presence of a surface-pinned stacked spin spiral phase [F. N. Rybakov et al., New J. Phys. 18, 045002 (2016)], which has yet to be observed experimentally. The phase is characterized by surface spiral periods exceeding the host material's fundamental winding period L D . Here, we present experimental evidence for the observation of this state in lamellae of FeGe using resonant x-ray holographic imaging data and micromagnetic simulations. We find images of FeGe lamellae, exceeding a critical thickness of 300 nm ( 4.3 L D ), exhibit contrast modulations with a field-dependent periodicity of λ ≥ 1.4 L D , consistent with theoretical predictions of the stacked spiral state. The identification of this spiral state has significant implications for the stability of other coexisting spin textures, and will help complete our understanding of helimagnetic systems.

Journal Keywords: Helicoidal magnetic texture; Magnetic texture; Magnetism; Ferromagnets; X-ray holography

Diamond Keywords: Ferromagnetism; Skyrmions

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I10-Beamline for Advanced Dichroism - scattering

Other Facilities: SEXTANTS at SOLEIL

Added On: 22/08/2022 09:38

Discipline Tags:

Surfaces Quantum Materials Physics Magnetism Materials Science

Technical Tags:

Scattering