Néel-type skyrmion lattice with confined orientation in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • I. Kezsmarki - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • S. Bordacs - , Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Author)
  • P. Milde - , Chair of Experimental Physics / Photophysics (Author)
  • E. Neuber - , Chair of Experimental Physics / Photophysics (Author)
  • L. M. Eng - , Chair of Experimental Physics / Photophysics (Author)
  • J. S. White - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • H. M. Ronnow - , Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) (Author)
  • C. D. Dewhurst - , ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin (Author)
  • M. Mochizuki - , Japan Science and Technology Agency (Author)
  • K. Yanai - , Aoyama Gakuin University (Author)
  • H. Nakamura - , Kyoto University (Author)
  • D. Ehlers - , Augsburg University (Author)
  • V. Tsurkan - , ASM - Institute of Applied Physics (Author)
  • A. Loidl - , Augsburg University (Author)

Abstract

Following the early prediction of the skyrmion lattice (SkL)-a periodic array of spin vortices-it has been observed recently in various magnetic crystals mostly with chiral structure. Although non-chiral but polar crystals with C-nv symmetry were identified as ideal SkL hosts in pioneering theoretical studies, this archetype of SkL has remained experimentally unexplored. Here, we report the discovery of a SkL in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8 with rhombohedral (C-3v) symmetry and easy axis anisotropy. The SkL exists over an unusually broad temperature range compared with other bulk crystals and the orientation of the vortices is not controlled by the external magnetic field, but instead confined to the magnetic easy axis. Supporting theory attributes these unique features to a new Neel-type of SkL describable as a superposition of spin cycloids in contrast to the Bloch-type SkL in chiral magnets described in terms of spin helices.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1116-1122
Number of pages8
JournalNature Materials
Volume14
Issue number11
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

WOS 000363471900019
Scopus 84945496803
ORCID /0000-0002-2484-4158/work/142257501

Keywords

Keywords

  • REAL-SPACE OBSERVATION, CRYSTALS, PHASE-TRANSITIONS, MIXED-STATE, MNSI, FIELD, MOTION, GaV4S8, SKYRMION, MFM