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Fractional antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattice induced by anisotropic couplings

Author

Listed:
  • Shang Gao

    (Paul Scherrer Institut
    University of Geneva
    RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

  • H. Diego Rosales

    (Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), UNLP-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata)

  • Flavia A. Gómez Albarracín

    (Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), UNLP-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata)

  • Vladimir Tsurkan

    (University of Augsburg
    Institute of Applied Physics)

  • Guratinder Kaur

    (Paul Scherrer Institut
    University of Geneva)

  • Tom Fennell

    (Paul Scherrer Institut)

  • Paul Steffens

    (Institut Laue-Langevin)

  • Martin Boehm

    (Institut Laue-Langevin)

  • Petr Čermák

    (Jülich Center for Neutron Science, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum, Forshungszentrum Jülich GmbH
    Charles University)

  • Astrid Schneidewind

    (Jülich Center for Neutron Science, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum, Forshungszentrum Jülich GmbH)

  • Eric Ressouche

    (Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, INAC-MEM)

  • Daniel C. Cabra

    (Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), UNLP-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata
    Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Associate Scheme)

  • Christian Rüegg

    (University of Geneva
    Paul Scherrer Institut
    Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich
    École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Oksana Zaharko

    (Paul Scherrer Institut)

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are topological solitons with a nanoscale winding spin texture that hold promise for spintronics applications1–4. Skyrmions have so far been observed in a variety of magnets that exhibit nearly parallel alignment for neighbouring spins, but theoretically skyrmions with anti-parallel neighbouring spins are also possible. Such antiferromagnetic skyrmions may allow more flexible control than conventional ferromagnetic skyrmions5–10. Here, by combining neutron scattering measurements and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that a fractional antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattice is stabilized in MnSc2S4 through anisotropic couplings. The observed lattice is composed of three antiferromagnetically coupled sublattices, and each sublattice is a triangular skyrmion lattice that is fractionalized into two parts with an incipient meron (half-skyrmion) character11,12. Our work demonstrates that the theoretically proposed antiferromagnetic skyrmions can be stabilized in real materials and represents an important step towards their implementation in spintronic devices.

Suggested Citation

  • Shang Gao & H. Diego Rosales & Flavia A. Gómez Albarracín & Vladimir Tsurkan & Guratinder Kaur & Tom Fennell & Paul Steffens & Martin Boehm & Petr Čermák & Astrid Schneidewind & Eric Ressouche & Danie, 2020. "Fractional antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattice induced by anisotropic couplings," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7827), pages 37-41, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:586:y:2020:i:7827:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2716-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2716-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Hikaru Takeda & Masataka Kawano & Kyo Tamura & Masatoshi Akazawa & Jian Yan & Takeshi Waki & Hiroyuki Nakamura & Kazuki Sato & Yasuo Narumi & Masayuki Hagiwara & Minoru Yamashita & Chisa Hotta, 2024. "Magnon thermal Hall effect via emergent SU(3) flux on the antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Jagannath Jena & Börge Göbel & Tomoki Hirosawa & Sebastián A. Díaz & Daniel Wolf & Taichi Hinokihara & Vivek Kumar & Ingrid Mertig & Claudia Felser & Axel Lubk & Daniel Loss & Stuart S. P. Parkin, 2022. "Observation of fractional spin textures in a Heusler material," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Imara Lima Fernandes & Stefan Blügel & Samir Lounis, 2022. "Spin-orbit enabled all-electrical readout of chiral spin-textures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Amal Aldarawsheh & Imara Lima Fernandes & Sascha Brinker & Moritz Sallermann & Muayad Abusaa & Stefan Blügel & Samir Lounis, 2022. "Emergence of zero-field non-synthetic single and interchained antiferromagnetic skyrmions in thin films," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Roméo Juge & Naveen Sisodia & Joseba Urrestarazu Larrañaga & Qiang Zhang & Van Tuong Pham & Kumari Gaurav Rana & Brice Sarpi & Nicolas Mille & Stefan Stanescu & Rachid Belkhou & Mohamad-Assaad Mawass , 2022. "Skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets and their nucleation via electrical current and ultra-fast laser illumination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.

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