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Transformation between meron and skyrmion topological spin textures in a chiral magnet

Yu, X. Z., Koshibae, W., Tokunaga, Y., Shibata, K., Taguchi, Y., Nagaosa, N., Tokura, Y.·2018·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-018-0745-3
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Abstract

Crystal lattices with tetragonal or hexagonal structure often exhibit structural transitions in response to external stimuli 1 . Similar behaviour is anticipated for the lattice forms of topological spin textures, such as lattices composed of merons and antimerons or skyrmions and antiskyrmions (types of vortex related to the distribution of electron spins in a magnetic field), but has yet to be verified experimentally 2,3 . Here we report real-space observations of spin textures in a thin plate of the chiral-lattice magnet Co 8 Zn 9 Mn 3 , which exhibits in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The observations demonstrate the emergence of a two-dimensional square lattice of merons and antimerons from a helical state, and its transformation into a hexagonal lattice of skyrmions in the presence of a magnetic field at room temperature. Sequential observations with decreasing temperature reveal that the topologically protected skyrmions remain robust to changes in temperature, whereas the square lattice of merons and antimerons relaxes to non-topological in-plane spin helices, highlighting the different topological stabilities of merons, antimerons and skyrmions. Our results demonstrate the rich variety of topological spin textures and their lattice forms, and should stimulate further investigation of emergent electromagnetic properties.

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  • For m = 1, skyrmions with γ = 0 or γ = π are classified as Néel-type and exhibit a hedgehog texture around the quasiparticle.

    “In the case of m = 1, the skyrmions of γ = 0 or γ = π are classified as Néel-type and exhibit a hedgehog texture around the quasiparticle [26].”

    From Optical skyrmions and other topological quasiparticles of light (2024) · cites this paper as [26]

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Research works printed but not linked: 34

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Metadata

Authors
Yu, X. Z., Koshibae, W., Tokunaga, Y., Shibata, K., Taguchi, Y., Nagaosa, N., & Tokura, Y.
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-12
Volume
564
Issue
7734
Pages
95-98
ISSN
  • 0028-0836
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-018-0745-3
Cited by
448
References
0
Language
en
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)

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