Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3}
Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} represents a unique example in the family of B20 cubic helimagnets with a tilted spiral and a low-temperature skyrmion phase arising for magnetic fields applied along the easy crystallographic 〈100〉 axes. Although the stabilization mechanism of these phases can be accounted for by cub...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043137 |
| _version_ | 1797210605580451840 |
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| author | A. O. Leonov C. Pappas |
| author_facet | A. O. Leonov C. Pappas |
| author_sort | A. O. Leonov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} represents a unique example in the family of B20 cubic helimagnets with a tilted spiral and a low-temperature skyrmion phase arising for magnetic fields applied along the easy crystallographic 〈100〉 axes. Although the stabilization mechanism of these phases can be accounted for by cubic magnetic anisotropy, the skyrmion nucleation process is still an open question, since the stability region of the skyrmion phase displays strongly hysteretic behavior with different phase boundaries for increasing and decreasing magnetic fields. Here, we address this important point using micromagnetic simulations and come to the conclusion that skyrmion nucleation is underpinned by the reorientation of spiral domains occurring near the critical magnetic fields of the phase diagrams: H_{C1}, the critical field of the transition between the helical and conical/tiled spiral phase, and H_{C2}, the critical field between the conical/tiled spiral and the homogenous phase. By studying a wide variety of cases we show that domain walls may have a 3D structure. Moreover, they can carry a finite topological charge stemming from half-skyrmions (merons) also permitting along-the-field and perpendicular-to-the-field orientation. Thus, domain walls may be envisioned as nucleation source of skyrmions that can form thermodynamically stable and metastable lattices as well as skyrmion networks with misaligned skyrmion tubes. The results of numerical simulations are discussed in view of recent experimental data on chiral magnets, in particular, for the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3}. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:13:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c0ba8c255f1e49d2a63799a46f83e979 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:13:15Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-c0ba8c255f1e49d2a63799a46f83e9792024-04-12T17:26:33ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642022-11-014404313710.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043137Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3}A. O. LeonovC. PappasCu_{2}OSeO_{3} represents a unique example in the family of B20 cubic helimagnets with a tilted spiral and a low-temperature skyrmion phase arising for magnetic fields applied along the easy crystallographic 〈100〉 axes. Although the stabilization mechanism of these phases can be accounted for by cubic magnetic anisotropy, the skyrmion nucleation process is still an open question, since the stability region of the skyrmion phase displays strongly hysteretic behavior with different phase boundaries for increasing and decreasing magnetic fields. Here, we address this important point using micromagnetic simulations and come to the conclusion that skyrmion nucleation is underpinned by the reorientation of spiral domains occurring near the critical magnetic fields of the phase diagrams: H_{C1}, the critical field of the transition between the helical and conical/tiled spiral phase, and H_{C2}, the critical field between the conical/tiled spiral and the homogenous phase. By studying a wide variety of cases we show that domain walls may have a 3D structure. Moreover, they can carry a finite topological charge stemming from half-skyrmions (merons) also permitting along-the-field and perpendicular-to-the-field orientation. Thus, domain walls may be envisioned as nucleation source of skyrmions that can form thermodynamically stable and metastable lattices as well as skyrmion networks with misaligned skyrmion tubes. The results of numerical simulations are discussed in view of recent experimental data on chiral magnets, in particular, for the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3}.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043137 |
| spellingShingle | A. O. Leonov C. Pappas Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} Physical Review Research |
| title | Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} |
| title_full | Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} |
| title_fullStr | Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} |
| title_full_unstemmed | Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} |
| title_short | Topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3} |
| title_sort | topological boundaries between helical domains as a nucleation source of skyrmions in the bulk cubic helimagnet cu 2 oseo 3 |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043137 |
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