Rhombic skyrmion lattice coupled with orthorhombic structural distortion in EuAl${}_4$

Abstract

The centrosymmetric tetragonal itinerant magnet EuAl${}_4$ exhibits an intricate magnetic phase diagram including rhombic and square skyrmion-lattice (SkL) phases in the external magnetic field. Here, we report a multi-axis dilatometric investigation of EuAl${}_4$ by means of a newly designed fiber-Bragg-grating technique complemented by a resonant x-ray scattering experiment, revealing anisotropic magnetostriction and magnetovolume effect associated with successive phase transitions. The rhombic and square SkL phases are found to possess $\sim$0.10% and $\sim$0.03% orthorhombic structural distortion within the $ab$ plane, respectively. We propose that the coupling between the spin system and the lattice deformation should be essential for the structural instability in EuAl${}_4$, yielding a rich variety of topological spin textures with spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking as well as a potential controllability of the SkL phases by uniaxial stress or pressure.

8 pages, 5 figures, SM: 4 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Physical Review B as a Letter

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Cited by in corpus (25)

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• Widely-sweeping magnetic field-temperature phase diagrams for skyrmion-hosting centrosymmetric tetragonal magnets
• Origin of Charge Density Wave in Topological Semimetals SrAl4 and EuAl4
• Charge-density wave transition in magnetic topological semimetal EuAl${}_4$
• Non-centrosymmetric, transverse structural modulation in SrAl4, and elucidation of its origin in the BaAl4 family of compounds
• Real-space Visualization of Charge Density Wave Induced Local Inversion-Symmetry Breaking in a Skyrmion Magnet
• Magnetic bubble crystal in tetragonal magnets
• Incommensurate broken helix induced by nonstoichiometry in the axion insulator candidate EuIn${}_2$As${}_2$
• Experimental progress in Eu(Al,Ga)${}_4$ topological antiferromagnets
• Anisotropic skyrmion crystal on a centrosymmetric square lattice under an in-plane magnetic field
• A Magnon Band Analysis of GdRu2Si2 in the Field-Polarized State
• Chern insulating state with double-$Q$ ordering wave vectors at the Brillouin zone boundary
• Band structure and charge ordering of Dirac semimetal EuAl${}_4$ at low temperatures
• Origin of multiple skyrmion phases in EuAl4
• Three-sublattice antiferro-type and ferri-type skyrmion crystals in centrosymmetric magnets
• I-centered vs F-centered orthorhombic symmetry and negative thermal expansion of the charge density wave of EuAl2Ga2
• Correlation between Complex Spin Textures and the Magnetocaloric and Hall Effects in Eu(Ga${}_{1-x}$Al${}_x$)${}_4$ ($x$ = 0.9, 1)
• Field-induced transformation between triangular and square skyrmion crystals in a tetragonal polar magnet
• Electron-phonon coupling in EuAl4 under hydrostatic pressure
• Double-$Q$ and quadruple-$Q$ instabilities at low-symmetric ordering wave vectors under tetragonal symmetry
• Square skyrmion lattice in multiorbital $f$-electron systems
• RKKY interaction in the presence of a charge-density-wave order
• Broken inversion symmetry in the charge density wave phase in EuAl${}_4$
• Single-$q$ Cycloid and Double-$q$ Vortex Lattices in Layered Magnetic Semimetal EuAg${}_4$Sb${}_2$
• Collinear spin density wave state in distorted square-lattice GdNiSn${}_4$