Deformation of the Magnetic Skyrmion Lattice in MnSi under Electric Current Flow

Abstract

Using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), we investigate the deformation of the magnetic skyrmion lattice in bulk single-crystalline MnSi under electric current flow. A significant broadening of the skyrmion-lattice-reflection peaks was observed in the SANS pattern for current densities greater than a threshold value j_t ~ 1 MA/m^2 (10^6 A/m^2). We show this peak broadening to originate from a spatially inhomogeneous rotation of the skyrmion lattice, with an inverse rotation sense observed for opposite sample edges aligned with the direction of current flow. The peak broadening (and the corresponding skyrmion lattice rotations) remain finite even after switching off the electric current. These results indicate that skyrmion lattices under current flow experience significant friction near the sample edges, and plastic deformation due to pinning effects, these being important factors that must be considered for the anticipated skyrmion-based applications in chiral magnets at the nanoscale.

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• Shear Banding, Intermittency, Jamming and Dynamic Phases for Skyrmions in Inhomogeneous Pinning Arrays
• Potential Skyrmion Host Fe(IO3)3: Connecting Stereo-active Lone-Pair Electron Effects to the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction
• Dimension transcendence and anomalous charge transport in magnets with moving multiple-$Q$ spin textures
• Pseudospin-lattice coupling and electric control of the square-lattice iridate Sr2IrO4
• Directional Locking and the Influence of Obstacle Density on Skyrmion Dynamics in Triangular and Honeycomb Arrays
• The Kibble-Zurek Scenario and Coarsening Across Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Driven Vortices and Skyrmions
• Skyrmion Lattice Manipulation with Electric Currents and Thermal Gradients in MnSi
• Hybrid magnetization dynamics in ${\text{Cu}}_{\text{2}}{\text{OSeO}}_{\text{3}}$/$\mathrm{NiFe}$ heterostructures
• Higher-order modulations in the skyrmion-lattice phase of Cu${}_2$OSeO${}_3$
• Spin and Orbital Effects on Asymmetric Exchange Interaction in Polar Magnets: M(IO3)2 (M = Cu, Mn)