Fermi-surface origin of skyrmion lattices in centrosymmetric rare-earth intermetallics

Abstract

We show from first-principles that barrel-shaped structures within the Fermi surface of the centrosymmetric intermetallic compounds GdRu${}_2$Si${}_2$ and Gd${}_2$PdSi${}_3$ give rise to Fermi surface nesting, which determines the strength and sign of quasi-two-dimensional Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida pairwise exchange interactions between the Gd moments. This is the principal mechanism leading to their helical single-$q$ spin-spiral ground states, providing transition temperatures and magnetic periods in good agreement with experiment. Using atomistic spin-dynamic simulations, we draw a direct line between the subtleties of the three-dimensional Fermi surface topology and the stabilization of a square skyrmion lattice in GdRu${}_2$Si${}_2$ at applied magnetic fields as observed in experiment.

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• Skyrmion and vortex crystals in the Hubbard model