Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - Tập 323 Số 5916 - Trang 915-919 - 2009
S. Mühlbauer1,2,3, B. Binz1,2,3, Florian Jonietz1,2,3, C. Pfleiderer1,2,3, Achim Rosch1,2,3, A. Neubauer1,2,3, R. Georgii1,2,3, P. Böni1,2,3
1Forschungsneutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
2Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 77, D-50937 Cologne, Germany.
3Physik Department E21, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany.

Tóm tắt

Skyrmions represent topologically stable field configurations with particle-like properties. We used neutron scattering to observe the spontaneous formation of a two-dimensional lattice of skyrmion lines, a type of magnetic vortex, in the chiral itinerant-electron magnet MnSi. The skyrmion lattice stabilizes at the border between paramagnetism and long-range helimagnetic order perpendicular to a small applied magnetic field regardless of the direction of the magnetic field relative to the atomic lattice. Our study experimentally establishes magnetic materials lacking inversion symmetry as an arena for new forms of crystalline order composed of topologically stable spin states.

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We thank A. N. Bogdanov S. Dunsiger E. M. Forgan C. Franz M. Garst M. Janoschek H. Kolb M. Laver S. Legl T. Lorenz W. Münzer T. Nattermann J. Peters U. K. Rößler B. Russ R. Schwikowski A. Vishwanath M. Vojta W. Zwerger and the team of FRM II for discussions and support and K. von Bergmann for stimulating discussions and help in preparing Fig. 3 C. We gratefully acknowledge financial support by SFB608 and the Alexander-von-Humboldt foundation.

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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Tập 323 Số 5916

915-919

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