Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Precipitating Ordered Skyrmion Lattices from Helical Spaghetti |
| Authors: |
Gilbert, Dustin A., Grutter, Alexander J., Neves, Paul M., Shu, Guo-Jiun, Zimanyi, Gergely, Maranville, Brian B., Chou, Fang-Cheng, Krycka, Kathryn, Butch, Nicholas P., Huang, Sunxiang, Borchers, Julie A. |
| Source: |
Phys. Rev. Materials 3, 014408 (2019) |
| Publication Year: |
2018 |
| Collection: |
Condensed Matter |
| Subject Terms: |
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics |
| More Details: |
Magnetic skyrmions have been the focus of intense research due to their potential applications in ultra-high density data and logic technologies, as well as for the unique physics arising from their antisymmetric exchange term and topological protections. In this work we prepare a chiral jammed state in chemically disordered (Fe, Co)Si consisting of a combination of randomly-oriented magnetic helices, labyrinth domains, rotationally disordered skyrmion lattices and/or isolated skyrmions. Using small angle neutron scattering, (SANS) we demonstrate a symmetry-breaking magnetic field sequence which disentangles the jammed state, resulting in an ordered, oriented skyrmion lattice. The same field sequence was performed on a sample of powdered Cu2OSeO3 and again yields an ordered, oriented skyrmion lattice, despite relatively non-interacting nature of the grains. Micromagnetic simulations confirm the promotion of a preferred skyrmion lattice orientation after field treatment, independent of the initial configuration, suggesting this effect may be universally applicable. Energetics extracted from the simulations suggest that approaching a magnetic hard axis causes the moments to diverge away from the magnetic field, increasing the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya energy, followed subsequently by a lattice re-orientation. The ability to facilitate an emergent ordered magnetic lattice with long-range orientation in a variety of materials despite overwhelming internal disorder enables the study of skyrmions even in imperfect powdered or polycrystalline systems and greatly improves the ability to rapidly screen candidate skyrmion materials. |
| Document Type: |
Working Paper |
| DOI: |
10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.014408 |
| Access URL: |
http://arxiv.org/abs/1810.07631 |
| Accession Number: |
edsarx.1810.07631 |
| Database: |
arXiv |
