Thin Film Growth of Heavy Fermion Chiral Magnet YbNi3Al9

Abstract

We grew thin films of a heavy fermion chiral magnet YbNi${}_3$Al${}_9$ by using molecular beam epitaxy. They were grown on $c$-plane sapphire substrates under ultra-high vacuum while maintaining a deposition rate at a stoichiometric ratio among Yb, Ni, and Al. The resulting thin films contain epitaxial grains with a $c$ axis parallel to the substrate surface: The YbNi${}_3$Al${}_9$ $c$ axis is parallel to the sapphire $b$ or $a$ axis. The temperature dependence of the resistivity exhibits a typical feature of a dense Kondo system with a broad shoulder structure at $\sim$40\,K, as well as a kink as a signature of the chiral helimagnetic ordering at 3.6\,K. These features are consistent with those previously observed in bulk samples. The shift in the kink associated with the field-induced phase transition is found in the magnetoresistance curves under a magnetic field applied in the direction perpendicular to the $c$-axis. The magnetic phase diagram well reproduces that for the bulk crystals, implying that the chiral soliton lattice phase arises under magnetic fields, even in thin films.

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• Skyrmion Hall Effect Revealed by Direct Time-Resolved X-Ray Microscopy
• Long wavelength helimagnetic order and skyrmion lattice phase in Cu2OSeO3
• Chiral Soliton Lattice Formation in Monoaxial Helimagnet Yb(Ni${}_{1-x}$Cu${}_x$)${}_3$Al${}_9$
• Neutron study of in-plane skyrmions in MnSi thin films