Vital role of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in cubic chiral skyrmion hosts
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Magnetic anisotropy is anticipated to govern the formation of exotic spin textures reported recently in cubic chiral magnets, like low-temperature tilted conical and skyrmion lattice (SkL) states and metastable SkLs with various lattice geometry. Motivated by these findings, we quantified the cubic anisotropy in a series of CoZnMn-type cubic chiral magnets. We found that the strength of anisotropy is highly enhanced towards low temperatures. Moreover, not only the magnitude but also the character of cubic anisotropy drastically varies upon changing the Co/Mn ratio. We correlate these changes with temperature- and composition-induced variations of the helical modulation vectors, deformations of skyrmions, structural rearrangements of the metastable SkLs and the large enhancement of Gilbert damping. Similar studies on magnetic anisotropy are required for the quantitative, unified description of the known stable and metastable modulated spin textures and for the systematic exploration of novel ones in this large class of skyrmion hosts.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Magnetic properties of thin films · Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials · Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (73)
Show source-provided references
1. Heinze, S. et al. Spontaneaus atomic-scale magnetic skyrmion lattice in two dimensions. Nat. Phys. 7, 713–718 (2011).10.1038/nphys2045 ↗
2. Wilson, M. N. et al. Extended elliptic skyrmion gratings in epitaxial MnSi thin films. Phys. Rev. B 86, 144420 (2012).10.1103/PhysRevB.86.144420 ↗
3. Yu, X., DeGrave, J. P., Hara, Y., Hara, T., Jin, S. & Tokura, Y. Observation of the magnetic skyrmion lattice in a MnSi nanowire by Lorentz TEM. Nano Lett. 13, 3755–3759 (2013).10.1021/nl401687d ↗
4. Du, H. et al. Electrical probing of field-driven cascading quantized transitions of skyrmion cluster states in MnSi nanowires. Nat. Commun. 6, 7637 (2015).10.1038/ncomms8637 ↗
5. Moreau-Luchaire, C. et al. Additive interfacial chiral interaction in multilayers for stabilization of small individual skyrmions at room temperature. Nat. Nanotech. 11, 444–448 (2016).10.1038/nnano.2015.313 ↗
6. Stolt, M. J. et al. Selective chemical vapor deposition growth of cubic FeGe nanowires that support stabilized magnetic skyrmions. Nano Lett. 17, 508–514 (2017).10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04548 ↗
7. Hervé, M. et al. Stabilizing spin spirals and isolated skyrmions at low magnetic field exploiting vanishing magnetic anisotropy. Nat. Commun. 9, 1015 (2018).10.1038/s41467-018-03240-w ↗
8. Mathur, N. et al. Electron holography and magnetotransport measurements reveal stabilized magnetic skyrmions in Fe1−xCoxSi nanowires. ACS Nano 13, 7833–7841 (2019).10.1021/acsnano.9b02130 ↗
9. Stolt, M. J. et al. Electrical detection and magnetic imaging of stabilized magnetic skyrmions in Fe1−xCoxGe (x < 0.1) microplates. Adv. Funct. Mater. 29, 1805418 (2019).10.1002/adfm.201805418 ↗
10. Mühlbauer, S. et al. Skyrmion lattice in a chiral magnet. Science 323, 915–919 (2009).10.1126/science.1166767 ↗
11. Yu, X. Z. et al. Real-space observation of a two-dimensional skyrmion crystal. Nature 465, 901–904 (2010).10.1038/nature09124 ↗
12. Münzer, W. et al. Skyrmion lattice in the doped semiconductor Fe1−xCoxSi. Phys. Rev. B 81, 041203(R) (2010).10.1103/PhysRevB.81.041203 ↗
13. Yu, X. Z. et al. Near room-temperature formation of a skyrmion crystal in thin-films of the helimagnet FeGe. Nat. Mater. 10, 106–109 (2011).10.1038/nmat2916 ↗
14. Kanazawa, N. et al. Possible skyrmion-lattice ground state in the b20 chiral-lattice magnet mnge as seen via small-angle neutron scattering. Phys. Rev. B 86, 134425 (2012).10.1103/PhysRevB.86.134425 ↗
15. Seki, S., Yu, X. Z., Ishiwata, S. & Tokura, Y. Observation of skyrmions in a multiferroic material. Science 336, 198–201 (2012).10.1126/science.1214143 ↗
16. Milde, P. et al. Unwinding of a skyrmion lattice by magnetic monopoles. Science 340, 1076–1080 (2013).10.1126/science.1234657 ↗
17. Tanigaki, T. et al. Real-space observation of short-period cubic lattice of skyrmions in MnGe. Nano Lett. 15, 5438–5442 (2015).10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02653 ↗
18. Qian, F. et al. Phase diagram and magnetic relaxation phenomena in Cu2OSeO3. Phys. Rev. B 94, 064418 (2016).10.1103/PhysRevB.94.064418 ↗
19. Pappas, C. et al. Magnetic fluctuations, precursor phenomena, and phase transition in MnSi under a magnetic field. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 047203 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.047203 ↗
20. Kanazawa, N., Seki, S. & Tokura, Y. Noncentrosymmetric magnets hosting magnetic skyrmions. Adv. Mater. 29, 1603227 (2017).10.1002/adma.201603227 ↗
21. Ishikawa, Y., Tajima, K., Bloch, D. & Roth, M. Helical spin structure in manganese silicide MnSi. Sol. St. Commun. 19, 525–528 (1976).10.1016/0038-1098(76)90057-0 ↗
22. Nakanishi, O., Yanase, A., Hasegawa, A. & Kataoka, M. The origin of the helical spin density wave in MnSi. Sol. St. Commun. 35, 995–998 (1980).10.1016/0038-1098(80)91004-2 ↗
23. Lundgren, L., Beckman, O., Attia, V., Bhattacherjee, S. P. & Richardson, M. Helical spin arrangement in cubic FeGe. Phys. Scr. 1, 69–72 (1970).10.1088/0031-8949/1/1/012 ↗
24. Siegfried, S.-A. et al. Spin-wave dynamics in the helimagnet FeGe studied by small-angle neutron scattering. Phys. Rev. B 95, 134415 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevB.95.134415 ↗
25. Skyrme, T. H. A unified field theory of mesons and baryons. Nucl. Phys. 31, 556–569 (1962).10.1016/0029-5582(62)90775-7 ↗
26. Pokrovsky, V. L. Properties of ordered, continuously degenerate systems. Adv. Phys. 28, 595–656 (1979).10.1080/00018737900101425 ↗
27. Bogdanov, A. N. & Yablonskii, D. A. Thermondynamically stable “vortices” in magnetically ordered crystals. The mixed state of magnets. Sov. Phys. JETP 68, 101–103 (1989).
28. Bogdanov, A. & Hubert, A. Thermodynamically stable magnetic vortex states in magnetic crystals. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 138, 255–269 (1994).10.1016/0304-8853(94)90046-9 ↗
29. Rößler, U. K., Bogdanov, A. N. & Pfleiderer, C. Spontaneous skyrmion ground states in magnetic metals. Nature 442, 797–801 (2006).10.1038/nature05056 ↗
30. Butenko, A. B., Leonov, A. O., Rößler, U. K. & Bogdanov, A. N. Stabilization of skyrmion textures by uniaxial distortions in noncentrosymmetric cubic helimagnets. Phys. Rev. B 82, 052403 (2010).10.1103/PhysRevB.82.052403 ↗
31. Buhrandt, S. & Fritz, L. Skyrmion lattice phase in three-dimensional chiral magnets from monte carlo simulations. Phys. Rev. B 88, 195137 (2013).10.1103/PhysRevB.88.195137 ↗
32. Nagaosa, N. & Tokura, Y. Topological properties and dynamics of magnetic skyrmions. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8, 899–911 (2013).10.1038/nnano.2013.243 ↗
33. Leonov, A. O. & Mostovoy, M. Multiply periodic states and isolated skyrmions in an anisotropic frustrated magnet. Nat. Commun. 6, 8275 (2015).10.1038/ncomms9275 ↗
34. Leonov, A. O. & Bogdanov, A. N. Crossover of skyrmion and helical modulations in noncentrosymmetric ferromagnets. N. J. Phys. 20, 043017 (2018).10.1088/1367-2630/aab702 ↗
35. Leonov, A. O. & Pappas, C. Skyrmion clusters and conical droplets in bulk helimagnets with cubic anisotropy. Phys. Rev. B 99, 144410 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevB.99.144410 ↗
36. Leonov, A. O., Pappas, C. & Kézsmárki, I. Field and anisotropy driven transformations of spin spirals in cubic skyrmion hosts. Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 043386 (2020).10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043386 ↗
37. Karube, K. et al. Robust metastable skyrmions and their triangular-square lattice structural transition in a high-temperature chiral magnet. Nat. Mater. 15, 1237–1242 (2016).10.1038/nmat4752 ↗
38. Morikawa, D. et al. Deformation of topologically-protected supercooled skyrmions in a thin plate of chiral magnet Co8Zn8Mn4. Nano Lett. 17, 1637–1641 (2017).10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04821 ↗
39. Chacon, A. et al. Observation of two independent skyrmion phases in a chiral magnetic material. Nat. Phys. 14, 936–941 (2018).10.1038/s41567-018-0184-y ↗
40. Quian, F. et al. New magnetic phase of the chiral skyrmion material Cu2OSeO3. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat7323 (2018).10.1126/sciadv.aat7323 ↗
41. Halder, M. et al. Thermodynamic evidence of a second skyrmion lattice phase and tilted conical phase in Cu2OSeO3. Phys. Rev. B 98, 144429 (2018).10.1103/PhysRevB.98.144429 ↗
42. Lin, S.-Z., Saxena, A. & Batista, C. D. Skyrmion fractionalization and merons in chiral magnets with easy-plane anisotropy. Phys. Rev. B 91, 224407 (2015).10.1103/PhysRevB.91.224407 ↗
43. Kézsmárki, I. et al. Néel-type skyrmion lattice with confined orientation in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8. Nat. Mater. 14, 1116–1122 (2015).10.1038/nmat4402 ↗
44. Nayak, A. K. et al. Magnetic antiskyrmions above room temperature in tetragonal heusler materials. Nature 548, 561–566 (2017).10.1038/nature23466 ↗
45. Bordács, S. et al. Equilibrium skyrmion lattice ground state in a polar easy-plane magnet. Sci. Rep. 7, 7584 (2017).10.1038/s41598-017-07996-x ↗
46. Leonov, A. O. & Kézsmárki, I. Skyrmion robustness in noncentrosymmetric magnets with axial symmetry: The role of anisotropy and tilted magnetic fields. Phys. Rev. B 96, 214413 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevB.96.214413 ↗
47. Ehlers, D. et al. Exchange anisotropy in the skyrmion host GaV4S8. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 29, 065803 (2016).
48. Butykai, Á. et al. Squeezing magnetic modulations by enhanced spin-orbit coupling of 4d electrons in the polar semiconductor GaMo4S8. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.11523 (2019).
49. Geirhos, K. et al. Macroscopic manifestation of domain-wall magnetism and magnetoelectric effect in a Néel-type skyrmion host. npj Qantum Mater. 5, 44 (2020).10.1038/s41535-020-0247-z ↗
50. Gross, B. et al. Stability of Néel-type skyrmion lattice against oblique magnetic fields in GaV4S8 and GaV4Se8. Phys. Rev. B 102, 104407 (2020).10.1103/PhysRevB.102.104407 ↗
51. Hori, T., Shiraish, H. & Ishii, Y. Magnetic properties of β-mncozn alloys. J. Magn. Mater. 310, 1820–1822 (2007).10.1016/j.jmmm.2006.10.582 ↗
52. Tokunaga, Y. et al. A new class of chiral materials hosting magnetic skyrmions beyond room temperature. Nat. Commun. 6, 7638 (2015).10.1038/ncomms8638 ↗
53. Yu, X. Z. et al. Transformation between meron and skyrmion topological spin textures in a chiral magnet. Nature 564, 95–98 (2018).10.1038/s41586-018-0745-3 ↗
54. Karube, K. et al. Metastable skyrmion lattices governed by magnetic disorder and anisotropy in β-mn-type chiral magnets. Phys. Rev. B 102, 064408 (2020).10.1103/PhysRevB.102.064408 ↗
55. Nagase, T. et al. Smectic liquid-crystalline structure of skyrmions in chiral magnet Co8.5Zn7.5Mn4(110) thin film. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 137203 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.137203 ↗
56. Nagase, T. et al. Observation of domain wall skyrmions in chiral magnets. Nat. Commun. 12, 3490 (2021).10.1038/s41467-021-23845-y ↗
57. Karube, K. et al. Skyrmion formation in a bulk chiral magnet at zero magnetic field and above room temperature. Phys. Rev. Mat. 1, 074405 (2017).
58. Karube, K. et al. Disordered skyrmion phase stabilized by magnetic frustration in a chiral magnet. Sci. Adv. 4, eaar7043 (2018).10.1126/sciadv.aar7043 ↗
59. Maleyev, S. V. Cubic magnets with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at low temperature. Phys. Rev. B 73, 174402 (2006).10.1103/PhysRevB.73.174402 ↗
60. Ukleev, V. et al. Element-specific soft x-ray spectroscopy, scattering, and imaging studies of the skyrmion-hosting compound Co8Zn8Mn4. Phys. Rev. B 99, 144408 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevB.99.144408 ↗
61. Nakajima, T. et al. Correlation between site occupancies and spin-glass transition in skyrmion host Co10−x/2Zn10−x/2Mnx. Phys. Rev. B 100, 064407 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevB.100.064407 ↗
62. Ford, P. J. & Mydosh, J. A. Electrical resistivity of noble-metal-host-3d solute spin-glass alloys. Phys. Rev. B 14, 2057–2070 (1976).10.1103/PhysRevB.14.2057 ↗
63. Kindervater, J. et al. Evolution of magnetocrystalline anisotropies in Mn1−xFexSi and Mn1−xCoxSi as inferred from small-angle neutron scattering and bulk properties. Phys. Rev. B 101, 104406 (2020).10.1103/PhysRevB.101.104406 ↗
64. Bocarsly, J. D., Heikes, C., Brown, C. M., Wilson, S. D. & Seshadri, R. Deciphering structural and magnetic disorder in the chiral skyrmion host materials CoxZnyMnz(x + y + z = 20). Phys. Rev. Mater. 3, 014402 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.014402 ↗
65. Stasinopoulos, I. et al. Low spin wave damping in the insulating chiral magnet Cu2OSeO3. Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 032408 (2017).10.1063/1.4995240 ↗
66. Landau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. On the theory of the dispersion of magnetic permeability in ferromagnetic bodies. Phys. Z. Sowj. 8, 153–169 (1935).
67. Gilbert, T. L. A lagrangian formulation of the gyromagnetic equation of the magnetization field. Phys. Rev. 100, 1243 (1955).
68. Kittel, C. Interpretation of anomalous larmor frequencies in ferromagnetic resonance experiment. Phys. Rev. 71, 270 (1947).10.1103/PhysRev.71.270.2 ↗
69. Kittel, C. Ferromagnetic resonance. J. Phys. Radium 12, 291–302 (1951).10.1051/jphysrad:01951001203029100 ↗
70. Tannenwald, P. E. IRE WESCON Convention Record, Vol. 3, Ch. 1, 134 (Institute of Radio Engineers, Inc., 1959).10.1109/WESCON.1959.1150336 ↗
71. Morrish, A. H. The Physical Principles of Magnetism, Ch. 10, 556–559, (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965).
72. Smit, J. & Beliers, H. G. Ferromagnetic resonance absorbtion in BaFe12O19. Philips Res. Rep. 10, 113 (1955).
73. Suhl, H. Ferromagnetic resonance in nickel ferrite between one and two kilomegacycles. Phys. Rev. 97, 555 (1955).10.1103/PhysRev.97.555.2 ↗