Multiferroics, in which magnetization and polarization can coexist, are potential candidates of the new spintronic materials which may enable the electrical control of magnetic state. The materials ...design of the multiferroics and the strategy to enhance the DC and optical magnetoelectric effect are argued in terms of the toroidal moment, helical spin structure, and critical-state phase control.
Crystal lattices with tetragonal or hexagonal structure often exhibit structural transitions in response to external stimuli
. 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
. Here we report real-space observations of spin textures in a thin plate of the chiral-lattice magnet Co
Zn
Mn
, 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.
The axion insulator which may exhibit an exotic quantized magnetoelectric effect is one of the most interesting quantum phases predicted for the three-dimensional topological insulator (TI). The ...axion insulator state is expected to show up in magnetically doped TIs with magnetizations pointing inwards and outwards from the respective surfaces. Towards the realization of the axion insulator, we here engineered a TI heterostructure in which magnetic ions (Cr) are modulation-doped only in the vicinity of the top and bottom surfaces of the TI ((Bi,Sb)
Te
) film. A separation layer between the two magnetic layers weakens interlayer coupling between them, enabling the magnetization reversal of individual layers. We demonstrate the realization of the axion insulator by observing a zero Hall plateau (ZHP) (where both the Hall and longitudinal conductivity become zero) in the electric transport properties, excluding the other possible origins for the ZHP. The manifestation of the axion insulator can lead to a new stage of research on novel magnetoelectric responses in topological matter.
Observation of Skyrmions in a Multiferroic Material Seki, S.; Yu, X. Z.; Ishiwata, S. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
04/2012, Letnik:
336, Številka:
6078
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A magnetic skyrmion is a topologically stable particle-like object that appears as a vortex-like spin texture at the nanometer scale in a chiral-lattice magnet. Skyrmions have been observed in ...metallic materials, where they are controllable by electric currents. Here, we report the experimental discovery of magnetoelectric skyrmions in an insulating chiral-lattice magnet Cu₂OSeO₃ through Lorentz transmission electron microscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. We find that the skyrmion can magnetically induce electric polarization. The observed magnetoelectric coupling may potentially enable the manipulation of the skyrmion by an external electric field without losses due to joule heating.
Skyrmions, topologically protected vortex-like nanometric spin textures in magnets, have been attracting increasing attention for emergent electromagnetic responses and possible technological ...applications for spintronics. In particular, metallic magnets with chiral and cubic/tetragonal crystal structure may have high potential to host skyrmions that can be driven by low electrical current excitation. However, experimental observations of skyrmions have been limited to below room temperature for the metallic chiral magnets, specifically for the MnSi-type B20 compounds. Towards technological applications, transcending this limitation is crucial. Here we demonstrate the formation of skyrmions with unique spin helicity both at and above room temperature in a family of cubic chiral magnets: β-Mn-type Co-Zn-Mn alloys with a different chiral space group from that of B20 compounds. Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, magnetization and small-angle neutron scattering measurements unambiguously reveal formation of a skyrmion crystal under application of a magnetic field in both thin-plate and bulk forms.
Quantized resistivity values for 2D electron systems don't necessarily result from an external magnetic field as in the 'normal' quantum Hall effect; they can arise due to a material's intrinsic ...ferromagnetism too--the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Experiments with a ferromagnetic topological insulator now establish how the anomalous states can be mapped onto the normal states.
Abstract
The Weyl semimetal (WSM), which hosts pairs of Weyl points and accompanying Berry curvature in momentum space near Fermi level, is expected to exhibit novel electromagnetic phenomena. ...Although the large optical/electronic responses such as nonlinear optical effects and intrinsic anomalous Hall effect (AHE) have recently been demonstrated indeed, the conclusive evidence for their topological origins has remained elusive. Here, we report the gigantic magneto-optical (MO) response arising from the topological electronic structure with intense Berry curvature in magnetic WSM Co
3
Sn
2
S
2
. The low-energy MO spectroscopy and the first-principles calculation reveal that the interband transitions on the nodal rings connected to the Weyl points show the resonance of the optical Hall conductivity and give rise to the giant intrinsic AHE in dc limit. The terahertz Faraday and infrared Kerr rotations are found to be remarkably enhanced by these resonances with topological electronic structures, demonstrating the novel low-energy optical response inherent to the magnetic WSM.
The 2020 skyrmionics roadmap Back, C; Cros, V; Ebert, H ...
Journal of physics. D, Applied physics,
09/2020, Letnik:
53, Številka:
36
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The notion of non-trivial topological winding in condensed matter systems represents a major area of present-day theoretical and experimental research. Magnetic materials offer a versatile platform ...that is particularly amenable for the exploration of topological spin solitons in real space such as skyrmions. First identified in non-centrosymmetric bulk materials, the rapidly growing zoology of materials systems hosting skyrmions and related topological spin solitons includes bulk compounds, surfaces, thin films, heterostructures, nano-wires and nano-dots. This underscores an exceptional potential for major breakthroughs ranging from fundamental questions to applications as driven by an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas between areas in magnetism which traditionally have been pursued rather independently. The skyrmionics Roadmap provides a review of the present state of the art and the wide range of research directions and strategies currently under way. These are, for instance, motivated by the identification of the fundamental structural properties of skyrmions and related textures, processes of nucleation and annihilation in the presence of non-trivial topological winding, an exceptionally efficient coupling to spin currents generating spin transfer torques at tiny current densities, as well as the capability to purpose-design broad-band spin dynamic and logic devices.
The longitudinal spin Seebeck effect has been investigated for a uniaxial antiferromagnetic insulator Cr(2)O(3), characterized by a spin-flop transition under magnetic field along the c axis. We have ...found that a temperature gradient applied normal to the Cr(2)O(3)/Pt interface induces inverse spin Hall voltage of spin-current origin in Pt, whose magnitude turns out to be always proportional to magnetization in Cr(2)O(3). The possible contribution of the anomalous Nernst effect is confirmed to be negligibly small. The above results establish that an antiferromagnetic spin wave can be an effective carrier of spin current.
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