Robust metastable skyrmions with tunable size in the chiral magnet FePtMo${}_3$N

Abstract

Synthesis of new materials that can host magnetic skyrmions and their thorough experimental and theoretical characterization are essential for future technological applications. The $\beta$-Mn-type compound FePtMo${}_3$N is one such novel material that belongs to the chiral space group $P{4}_{1}32$, where the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinkii-Moriya interaction is allowed due to the absence of inversion symmetry. We report the results of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements of FePtMo${}_3$N and demonstrate that its magnetic ground state is a long-period spin helix with a Curie temperature of 222~K. The magnetic field-induced redistribution of the SANS intensity showed that the helical structure transforms to a lattice of skyrmions at $\sim$13~mT at temperatures just below $T_{\text{C}}$. Our key observation is that the skyrmion state in FePtMo${}_3$N is robust against field cooling down to the lowest temperatures. Moreover, once the metastable state is prepared by field cooling, the skyrmion lattice exists even in zero field. Furthermore, we show that the skyrmion size in FePtMo${}_3$N exhibits high sensitivity to the sample temperature and can be continuously tuned between 120 and 210~nm. This offers new prospects in the control of topological properties of chiral magnets.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (22)

• Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet
• Advances in the Physics of Magnetic Skyrmions and Perspective for Technology
• Spontaneous Skyrmion Ground States in Magnetic Metals
• Skyrmion Lattice in a Doped Semiconductor
• A new class of chiral materials hosting magnetic skyrmions beyond room temperature
• Long wavelength helimagnetic order and skyrmion lattice phase in Cu2OSeO3
• Precursor phenomena at the magnetic ordering of the cubic helimagnet FeGe
• Robust metastable skyrmions and their triangular-square lattice-structural transition in a high-temperature chiral magnet
• Chiral skyrmions in cubic helimagnet films: the role of uniaxial anisotropy
• The skyrmion lattice phase in three dimensional chiral magnets from Monte Carlo simulations
• Cubic magnets with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at low T
• Skyrmion formation in a bulk chiral magnet at zero magnetic field and above room temperature
• Deciphering structural and magnetic disorder in the chiral skyrmion host materials Co${}_x$Zn${}_y$Mn${}_z$ ($x+y+z=20$)
• Controlling the helicity of magnetic skyrmions in a $\beta$-Mn-type high-temperature chiral magnet
• Ab initio analysis of magnetic properties of prototype B20 chiral magnet FeGe
• Element-specific soft X-ray spectroscopy, scattering and imaging studies of skyrmion-hosting compound Co${}_8$Zn${}_8$Mn${}_4$
• Hidden quantum phase transition in Mn${}_{1-x}$Fe${}_x$Ge: evidence brought by small-angle neutron scattering
• Evolution of helimagnetic correlations in Mn${}_{1-x}$Fe${}_x$Si with doping: a small-angle neutron scattering study
• Stability of skyrmion textures and the role of thermal fluctuations in cubic helimagnets: a new intermediate phase at low temperature
• Controlling Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in the skyrmion host candidates FePd${}_{1-x}$Pt${}_x$Mo${}_3$N
• Increasing the skyrmion stability in Cu${}_2$OSeO${}_3$ by chemical substitution
• Onset of a skyrmion phase by chemical substitution in MnGe chiral magnet

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Tuning of topological properties in the strongly correlated antiferromagnet Mn${}_3$Sn via Fe doping
• Persistent exchange splitting in a chiral helimagnet Cr1/3NbS2
• Tuning of Electrical, Magnetic, and Topological Properties of Magnetic Weyl Semimetal Mn${}_{3+x}$Ge by Fe doping
• Observation of magnetic skyrmion lattice in Cr${}_{0.82}$Mn${}_{0.18}$Ge by small-angle neutron scattering