Controlling Skyrmion Lattices via Strain: Elongation, Tilting, and Collapse Mechanisms

Abstract

This study establishes a comprehensive framework for the three-dimensional strain control of magnetic skyrmion strings. We integrate analytical modeling, micromagnetic simulations, and \textit{in situ} Lorentz transmission electron microscopy experiments to demonstrate that externally applied strain is a powerful stimuli for manipulating three-dimensional magnetic skyrmion strings. Analytical models predict that strain induces both elongation and bidirectional tilting of skyrmion strings in bulk systems, a finding corroborated by numerical simulations. These simulations further reveal that strain drives the system from fragmented multi-domain states toward unified single-domain configurations and facilitates skyrmion string rupture via bobber formation at critical strain levels. The collapse of the skyrmion lattice exhibits a temperature-dependent character, shifting from first-order to second-order behavior near the critical temperature $T_c$. Reducing sample thickness significantly increases the critical strain required for annihilation due to the suppression of tilting. Experimental validation on a ${\text{Co}}_8{\text{Zn}}_{8.5}{\text{Mn}}_{3.5}$ sample confirms strain-induced elongation and subsequent collapse into a conical phase via anti-cluster formation, directly implicating strain-modulated Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) as the primary mechanism in this system, over magnetocrystalline anisotropy. These findings provide a mechanistic understanding of strain-mediated control in three-dimensional magnetic systems, demonstrating its feasibility for energy-efficient spintronic applications.

References in corpus (14)

• Magnetic skyrmion logic gates: conversion, duplication and merging of skyrmions
• Theory of current-driven motion of Skyrmions and spirals in helical magnets
• Three-dimensional skyrmion states in thin films of cubic helimagnets
• Magnetic Skyrmions for Unconventional Computing
• Fast current-induced skyrmion motion in synthetic antiferromagnets
• Direct visualization of three-dimensional shape of skyrmion strings in a noncentrosymmetric magnet
• Reservoir Computing with Spin Waves in Skyrmion Crystal
• Creation of a Chiral Bobber Lattice in Helimagnet-Multilayer Heterostructures
• Dynamics of an elliptical ferromagnetic skyrmion driven by the spin-orbit torque
• Boundary-Driven Twist States in Systems with Broken Spatial Inversion Symmetry
• Handwritten Digit Recognition by Spin Waves in a Skyrmion Reservoir
• Controllable inter-skyrmion attractions and resulting skyrmion-lattice structures in two-dimensional chiral magnets with in-plane anisotropy
• Theoretical study on stabilization and destabilization of magnetic skyrmions by uniaxial-strain-induced anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya interactions
• Topological Defect Mediated Helical Phase Reorientation by Uniaxial Stress