Room-temperature helimagnetism in FeGe thin films

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • S. L. Zhang - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • I. Stasinopoulos - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • T. Lancaster - , Durham University (Author)
  • F. Xiao - , Durham University (Author)
  • A. Bauer - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • F. Rucker - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • A. A. Baker - , University of Oxford, Diamond Light Source (Author)
  • A. I. Figueroa - , Diamond Light Source (Author)
  • Z. Salman - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • F. L. Pratt - , Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Author)
  • S. J. Blundell - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • T. Prokscha - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • A. Suter - , Paul Scherrer Institute (Author)
  • J. Waizner - , University of Cologne (Author)
  • M. Garst - , Chair of Theoretical Solid State Physics, University of Cologne, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • D. Grundler - , Technical University of Munich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) (Author)
  • G. Van Der Laan - , Diamond Light Source (Author)
  • C. Pfleiderer - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • T. Hesjedal - , University of Oxford (Author)

Abstract

Chiral magnets are promising materials for the realisation of high-density and low-power spintronic memory devices. For these future applications, a key requirement is the synthesis of appropriate materials in the form of thin films ordering well above room temperature. Driven by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, the cubic compound FeGe exhibits helimagnetism with a relatively high transition temperature of 278 K in bulk crystals. We demonstrate that this temperature can be enhanced significantly in thin films. Using x-ray scattering and ferromagnetic resonance techniques, we provide unambiguous experimental evidence for long-wavelength helimagnetic order at room temperature and magnetic properties similar to the bulk material. We obtain αintr = 0.0036 ± 0.0003 at 310 K for the intrinsic damping parameter. We probe the dynamics of the system by means of muon-spin rotation, indicating that the ground state is reached via a freezing out of slow dynamics. Our work paves the way towards the fabrication of thin films of chiral magnets that host certain spin whirls, so-called skyrmions, at room temperature and potentially offer integrability into modern electronics.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number123
JournalScientific reports
Volume7
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 28273923

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas