Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable swirling spin textures with particle-like character, and have been intensively studied as a candidate of high-density information bit. While magnetic ...skyrmions were originally discovered in noncentrosymmetric systems with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, recently a nanometric skyrmion lattice has also been reported for centrosymmetric rare-earth compounds, such as Gd
PdSi
and GdRu
Si
. For the latter systems, a distinct skyrmion formation mechanism mediated by itinerant electrons has been proposed, and the search of a simpler model system allowing for a better understanding of their intricate magnetic phase diagram is highly demanded. Here, we report the discovery of square and rhombic lattices of nanometric skyrmions in a centrosymmetric binary compound EuAl
, by performing small-angle neutron and resonant elastic X-ray scattering experiments. Unlike previously reported centrosymmetric skyrmion-hosting materials, EuAl
shows multiple-step reorientation of the fundamental magnetic modulation vector as a function of magnetic field, probably reflecting a delicate balance of associated itinerant-electron-mediated interactions. The present results demonstrate that a variety of distinctive skyrmion orders can be derived even in a simple centrosymmetric binary compound, which highlights rare-earth intermetallic systems as a promising platform to realize/control the competition of multiple topological magnetic phases in a single material.
We report the discovery of topological magnetism in the candidate magnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlGe. Using neutron scattering we find this system to host several incommensurate, square-coordinated ...multi-kover → magnetic phases below T_{N}. The topological properties of a phase stable at intermediate magnetic fields parallel to the c axis are suggested by observation of a topological Hall effect. Our findings highlight CeAlGe as an exceptional system for exploiting the interplay between the nontrivial topologies of the magnetization in real space and Weyl nodes in momentum space.
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The hybrid input-output algorithm is a phase retrieval method that provides solution for the phase problem of coherent X-ray diffraction imaging of micro- and nano-objects from the diffraction ...pattern alone without using any focusing optics. In this paper, we have studied a tolerance of this algorithm to missing information at the center of the diffraction pattern, which is a frequent problem in problems of small-angle scattering. We considered the particular problem of the stability of the algorithm in the case of scattering from an ordered structure and provided a qualitative and quantitative description of the degradation of image reconstruction with an increase in the amount of missing information.
Intermetallic Pd‐doped (Fe,Ni)3P, which crystallizes in a non‐centrosymmetric tetragonal structure with S4 symmetry, has recently been discovered to host magnetic antiskyrmions, antivortex‐like ...topological spin textures. In this material, uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and dipolar interactions play a significant role, giving rise to finely branched magnetic domain patterns near the surface of bulk crystals, as revealed by a previous magnetic force microscopy (MFM) measurement. However, small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a more suitable method for characterizing bulk properties and fractal structures on the mesoscopic length scale. In this study, using SANS and MFM, the magnetic domain structure in bulk single crystals of (Fe0.63Ni0.30Pd0.07)3P is quantitatively investigated. The SANS results demonstrate that the magnetic domain structure exhibits anisotropic fractal character on length scales down to the width of the magnetic domain walls. The fractal features are gradually lost in magnetic fields, and different field dependencies are observed at 300 and 2 K due to a temperature‐dependent anisotropy. This study quantifies the fractality of the highly anisotropic magnetic domain structures in an antiskyrmion material, and highlights the versatility of SANS for the study of fractal structures in magnetic systems.
The anisotropic fractal magnetic domain structure in bulk single‐crystal (Fe0.63Ni0.30Pd0.07)3P has been quantitatively characterized using small‐angle neutron scattering.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Magnetic skyrmions, topological vortex-like spin textures, garner significant interest due to their unique properties and potential applications in nanotechnology. While they typically form a ...hexagonal crystal with distinct internal magnetisation textures known as Bloch- or Néel-type, recent theories suggest the possibility for direct transitions between skyrmion crystals of different lattice structures and internal textures. To date however, experimental evidence for these potentially useful phenomena have remained scarce. Here, we discover the polar tetragonal magnet EuNiGe
to host two hybrid skyrmion phases, each with distinct internal textures characterised by anisotropic combinations of Bloch- and Néel-type windings. Variation of the magnetic field drives a direct transition between the two phases, with the modification of the hybrid texture concomitant with a hexagonal-to-square skyrmion crystal transformation. We explain these observations with a theory that includes the key ingredients of momentum-resolved Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions that compete at the observed low symmetry magnetic skyrmion crystal wavevectors. Our findings underscore the potential of polar magnets with rich interaction schemes as promising for discovering new topological magnetic phases.
In the present paper we discuss correlations between crystal structure and magnetic properties of epitaxial ε-Fe
2
O
3
films grown on GaN. The large magnetocrystalline anisotropy and room temperature ...multiferroic properties of this exotic iron oxide polymorph, make it a perspective material for the development of low power consumption magnetic media storage devices. Extending our recent progress in PLD growth of ε-Fe
2
O
3
on the surface of technologically important nitride semiconductors, we apply reciprocal space tomography by electron and x-ray diffraction to investigate the break of crystallographic symmetry occurring at the oxide-nitride interface resulting in the appearance of anisotropic crystallographic disorder in the sub-100 nm ε-Fe
2
O
3
films. The orthorhombic-on-hexagonal nucleation scenario is shown responsible for the development of a peculiar columnar structure observed in ε-Fe
2
O
3
by means of HRTEM and AFM. The complementary information on the direct and reciprocal space structure of the columnar ε-Fe
2
O
3
films is obtained by various techniques and correlated to their magnetic properties. The peculiar temperature dependence of magnetization studied by the small-field magnetization derivative method and by neutron diffraction reveals the existence of a magnetic softening below 150 K, similar to the one observed earlier solely in nanoparticles. The magnetization reversal in ε-Fe
2
O
3
films probed by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism is found different from the behavior of the bulk averaged magnetization measured by conventional magnetometry. The presented results fill the gap between the numerous studies performed on randomly oriented ε-Fe
2
O
3
nanoparticles and much less frequent investigations of epitaxial epsilon ferrite films with lattice orientation fixed by the substrate.
We report investigations of the magnetic textures in periodic multilayers Pt(1 nm)/(CoFeB(0.8 nm)/Ru(1.4 nm)
using polarised neutron reflectometry (PNR) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The ...multilayers are known to host skyrmions stabilized by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions induced by broken inversion symmetry and spin-orbit coupling at the asymmetric interfaces. From depth-dependent PNR measurements, we observed well-defined structural features and obtained the layer-resolved magnetization profiles. The in-plane magnetization of the CoFeB layers calculated from fitting of the PNR profiles is found to be in excellent agreement with magnetometry data. Using SANS as a bulk probe of the entire multilayer, we observe long-period magnetic stripe domains and skyrmion ensembles with full orientational disorder at room temperature. No sign of skyrmions is found below 250 K, which we suggest is due to an increase of an effective magnetic anisotropy in the CoFeB layer on cooling that suppresses skyrmion stability. Using polarised SANS at room temperature, we prove the existence of pure Néel-type windings in both stripe domain and skyrmion regimes. No Bloch-type winding admixture, i.e. an indication for hybrid windings, is detected within the measurement sensitivity, in good agreement with expectations according to our micromagnetic modelling of the multilayers. Our findings using neutron techniques provide valuable microscopic insights into the rich magnetic behavior of skyrmion-hosting multilayers, which are essential for the advancement of future skyrmion-based spintronic devices.
Abstract
Quantifying the dynamics of normal modes and how they interact with other excitations is of central importance in condensed matter. Spin-lattice coupling is relevant to several sub-fields of ...condensed matter physics; examples include spintronics, high-
T
c
superconductivity, and topological materials. However, experimental approaches that can directly measure it are rare and incomplete. Here we use time-resolved X-ray diffraction to directly access the ultrafast motion of atoms and spins following the coherent excitation of an electromagnon in a multiferroic hexaferrite. One striking outcome is the different phase shifts relative to the driving field of the two different components. This phase shift provides insight into the excitation process of such a coupled mode. This direct observation of combined lattice and magnetization dynamics paves the way to access the mode-selective spin-lattice coupling strength, which remains a missing fundamental parameter for ultrafast control of magnetism and is relevant to a wide variety of materials.
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