Observation of the skyrmion side-face state in a chiral magnet

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.L060405

Authors: Xiaodong Xie (ShanghaiTech University) , Kejing Ran (ShanghaiTech University) , Yizhou Liu (RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)) , Raymond Fan (Diamond Light Source) , Wancong Tan (ShanghaiTech University) , Haonan Jin (ShanghaiTech University) , Manuel Valvidares (ALBA Synchrotron Light Source) , Nicolas Jaouen (Synchrotron SOLEIL) , Haifeng Du (High Magnetic Field Laboratory and University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)) , 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: Physical Review B , VOL 107

State: Published (Approved)
Published: February 2023
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 20437 , 26148 , 22629

Abstract: We identify a three-dimensional skyrmion side-face state in chiral magnets that consists of a thin layer of modulated surface spirals and an array of phase-locked skyrmion screws. Such chiral spin structures lead to a characteristic X-shaped magnetic diffraction pattern in resonant elastic x-ray scattering, reminiscent of Photo 51 of the DNA double-helix diffraction. By measuring both thin plates and bulk Cu 2 OSeO 3 crystals in the field-in-plane geometry, we unambiguously identify the modulated skyrmion strings by retrieving their chirality and helix angle. The breaking of the translational symmetry along the side faces suppresses the bulk-favored conical state, providing a stabilization mechanism for the skyrmion lattice phase that has been overlooked so far.

Journal Keywords: Skyrmions; Chiral magnets; Helimagnets; Resonant elastic x-ray scattering; X-ray resonant magnetic scattering

Diamond Keywords: Skyrmions

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I10-Beamline for Advanced Dichroism

Other Facilities: SOLEIL; MARES of BOREAS at ALBA

Added On: 15/02/2023 09:18

Discipline Tags:

Physics Hard condensed matter - structures Magnetism Materials Science

Technical Tags:

Scattering Resonant Elastic X-ray Scattering (REXS)