Domain wall networks as skyrmion crystals in chiral magnets
Phys. Rev. B 112, 064422 – Published 13 August, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6j6b-sfjh
Abstract
We theoretically investigate the ground states of a chiral magnet with a square anisotropy and show that it supports domain wall networks as stable ground states. A domain wall junction in the domain wall network turns out to be a skyrmion with half topological charge and, therefore, the found domain wall network has a second topological nature, a skyrmion crystal. More specifically, we present a ground-state phase diagram of a chiral magnet with varying anisotropy parameters consisting of skyrmion lattices, chiral soliton lattices, and ferromagnetic states. In the presence of the square anisotropy, the skyrmion crystal forms a domain wall network. The size of domains in the domain wall network is shown to be tunable by an external magnetic field, offering a way to realize experimentally detectable domain wall networks.