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Anisotropic skyrmion liquid phase

Daniel Schick1,*, Tim Matthies2, Thomas Mutschler1, Levente Rózsa3,4, and Ulrich Nowak1

  • *Contact author: daniel.schick@uni-konstanz.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023145 – Published 11 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qh5x-8lz3

Abstract

The nature of the melting transition in two-dimensional systems of particles has attracted considerable research attention since the development of Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory. The hexatic phase proposed by this theory has been recently identified experimentally in ensembles of magnetic skyrmions, quasiparticles formed in a magnetically ordered crystal. Here, we use quasiparticle dynamical simulations to study how the anisotropy of the skyrmion-skyrmion interactions induced by the atomic lattice influences the melting transition. For isotropic interactions, we find a transition from a solid phase through a hexatic phase stable in a narrow temperature range to an isotropic liquid phase. However, if the interactions between skyrmions are forced to be anisotropic by the atomic lattice, then a direct solid-liquid transition can be observed with orientational order persisting up to temperatures of 30 K in the liquid phase.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023145– Published 11 May, 2026
  • Received 9 December 2025
  • Accepted 2 April 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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