Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Editors' Suggestion
  • Letter

Evidence for giant surface Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in the chiral magnetic insulator Cu2OSeO3

Wancong Tan1,*, Haonan Jin1,2,*, Raymond Fan3, Kejing Ran1,2,4,†, and Shilei Zhang1,2,5,‡

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †rankj@shanghaitech.edu.cn
  • ‡shilei.zhang@shanghaitech.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. B 109, L220402 – Published 5 June, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.L220402

Abstract

Broken of translational symmetry plays a vital role in the stabilization of three-dimensional magnetic skyrmions. The absence of exchange neighbours at truncated surfaces leads to surface twist effect, resulting in twisted helicity angle of the skyrmions. Recently, it was reported in Zhang et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 115, 6386 (2018)] that the observed surface twist effect is over an order of magnitude more pronounced than the theoretical predictions. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism that leads to such discrepancy has not been resolved yet. In order to address this long-standing issue, we performed depth-resolved circular dichroic resonant elastic x-ray scattering (CD-REXS) measurements on the skyrmion lattice phase in Cu2OSeO3 over a wide temperature range. It is found that the measured skyrmion helicity angle profile is highly temperature-dependent, which cannot be quantitatively explained by the temperature-varying micromagnetic parameters alone. By systematically ruling out other possible effects, we conclude that a giant surface-type Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction emerges due to the ferroelectric polarization at the surface of Cu2OSeO3. Our results provide insights into the complex interplay between surface and bulk interactions in the formation of magnetic skyrmions and offer new possibilities for designing skyrmionic devices.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Authorization Required

We need you to provide your credentials before accessing this content.

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

References (Subscription Required)

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation