Spontaneous Magnetization Induced by Antiferromagnetic Toroidal Ordering.

The magnetic toroidal dipole moment, which is induced by a vortex-type spin texture, manifests itself in parity-breaking physical phenomena, such as a linear magnetoelectric effect and nonreciprocal transport. We elucidate that a staggered alignment of the magnetic toroidal dipole can give rise to spontaneous magnetization even under antiferromagnetic structures. We demonstrate the emergence of uniform magnetization by considering the collinear antiferromagnetic structure with the staggered magnetic toroidal dipole moment on a bilayer zigzag chain.

Toroidal orders and related phenomena in nonmagnetic and magnetic materials.

In this short article, we overview a concept of electronic toroidal multipoles, and their ordering with associated physical properties in non-magnetic and magnetic materials. The toroidal multipoles are introduced as microscopic electronic variables in view of symmetry and connection to Dirac theory. They are classified according to crystallographic and magnetic point groups, which allows us to discuss various possible cross correlations in a transparent and unified manner.

Generalization of microscopic multipoles and cross-correlated phenomena by their orderings.

The generalization of the atomic-scale multipoles is discussed. By introducing the augmented multipoles defined in the hybrid orbitals or in the site/bond-cluster, any of electronic degrees of freedom can be expressed in accordance with the crystallographic point group. These multipoles are useful to describe the cross-correlated phenomena, band-structure deformation, and generation of effective spin-orbit coupling due to antiferromagnetic ordering in a systematic and comprehensive manner.

Square skyrmion crystal in centrosymmetric systems with locally inversion-asymmetric layers.

We investigate an instability toward a square-lattice formation of magnetic skyrmions in centrosymmetric layered systems. By focusing on a bilayer square-lattice structure with the inversion center at the interlayer bond instead of the atomic site, we numerically examine the stability of the square skyrmion crystal (SkX) based on an effective spin model with the momentum-resolved interaction in the ground state through the simulated annealing. As a result, we find that a layer-dependent staggered Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction built in the lattice structure becomes the origin of the square SkX in an external magnetic field irrespective of the sign of the interlayer exchange interaction.

Square and rhombic lattices of magnetic skyrmions in a centrosymmetric binary compound.

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable swirling spin textures with particle-like character, and have been intensively studied as a candidate of high-density information bit. While magnetic skyrmions were originally discovered in noncentrosymmetric systems with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, recently a nanometric skyrmion lattice has also been reported for centrosymmetric rare-earth compounds, such as GdPdSi and GdRuSi. For the latter systems, a distinct skyrmion formation mechanism mediated by itinerant electrons has been proposed, and the search of a simpler model system allowing for a better understanding of their intricate magnetic phase diagram is highly demanded.

Zoology of Multiple-Q Spin Textures in a Centrosymmetric Tetragonal Magnet with Itinerant Electrons.

Magnetic skyrmion is a topologically stable particle-like swirling spin texture potentially suitable for high-density information bit, which was first observed in noncentrosymmetric magnets with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Recently, nanometric skyrmion has also been discovered in centrosymmetric rare-earth compounds, and the identification of their skyrmion formation mechanism and further search of nontrivial spin textures are highly demanded. Here, magnetic structures in a prototypical skyrmion-hosting centrosymmetric tetragonal magnet GdRu Si is exhaustively studied by performing the resonant X-ray scattering experiments.

Phase shift in skyrmion crystals.

The magnetic skyrmion crystal is a periodic array of a swirling topological spin texture. Since it is regarded as an interference pattern by multiple helical spin density waves, the texture changes with the relative phase shifts among the constituent waves. Although such a phase degree of freedom is relevant to not only magnetism but also transport properties, its effect has not been elucidated thus far.

Topological spin crystals by itinerant frustration.

Spin textures with nontrivial topology, such as vortices and skyrmions, have attracted attention as a source of unconventional magnetic, transport, and optical phenomena. Recently, a new generation of topological spin textures has been extensively studied in itinerant magnets; in contrast to the conventional ones induced, e.g.

Skyrmion crystals in centrosymmetric itinerant magnets without horizontal mirror plane.

We theoretically investigate a new stabilization mechanism of a skyrmion crystal (SkX) in centrosymmetric itinerant magnets with magnetic anisotropy. By considering a trigonal crystal system without the horizontal mirror plane, we derive an effective spin model with an anisotropic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction for a multi-band periodic Anderson model. We find that the anisotropic RKKY interaction gives rise to two distinct SkXs with different skyrmion numbers of one and two depending on a magnetic field.

Imaging the coupling between itinerant electrons and localised moments in the centrosymmetric skyrmion magnet GdRuSi.

Magnetic skyrmions were thought to be stabilised only in inversion-symmetry breaking structures, but skyrmion lattices were recently discovered in inversion symmetric Gd-based compounds, spurring questions of the stabilisation mechanism. A natural consequence of a recent theoretical proposal, a coupling between itinerant electrons and localised magnetic moments, is that the skyrmions are amenable to detection using even non-magnetic probes such as spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunnelling microscopy (SI-STM). Here SI-STM observations of GdRuSi reveal patterns in the local density of states that indeed vary with the underlying magnetic structures.

Spin current generation in organic antiferromagnets.

Spin current-a flow of electron spins without a charge current-is an ideal information carrier free from Joule heating for electronic devices. The celebrated spin Hall effect, which arises from the relativistic spin-orbit coupling, enables us to generate and detect spin currents in inorganic materials and semiconductors, taking advantage of their constituent heavy atoms. In contrast, organic materials consisting of molecules with light elements have been believed to be unsuited for spin current generation.

Electric Toroidal Quadrupoles in the Spin-Orbit-Coupled Metal Cd_{2}Re_{2}O_{7}.

We report our theoretical results on the order parameters for the pyrochlore metal Cd_{2}Re_{2}O_{7}, which undergoes enigmatic phase transitions with inversion symmetry breaking. By carefully examining active electronic degrees of freedom based on the lattice symmetry, we propose that two parity-breaking phases at ambient pressure are described by unconventional multipoles, electric toroidal quadrupoles (ETQs) with different components, x^{2}-y^{2} and 3z^{2}-r^{2}, in the pyrochlore tetrahedral unit. We elucidate that the ETQs are activated by bond or spin-current order on Re─Re bonds.

Néel- and Bloch-Type Magnetic Vortices in Rashba Metals.

We theoretically study noncoplanar spin textures in polar magnetic conductors. Starting from the Kondo lattice model with the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, we derive an effective spin model with generalized Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions including the anisotropic and antisymmetric exchange interactions. By performing simulated annealing for the effective model, we find that a vortex crystal of Néel type is stabilized even in the absence of a magnetic field.

Zero-Field Skyrmions with a High Topological Number in Itinerant Magnets.

Magnetic Skyrmions are swirling spin textures with topologically protected noncoplanarity. Recently, Skyrmions with the topological number of unity have been extensively studied in both experiment and theory. We here show that a Skyrmion crystal with an unusually high topological number of two is stabilized in itinerant magnets at a zero magnetic field.

Emergent spin-valley-orbital physics by spontaneous parity breaking.

The spin-orbit coupling in the absence of spatial inversion symmetry plays an important role in realizing intriguing electronic states in solids, such as topological insulators and unconventional superconductivity. Usually, the inversion symmetry breaking is inherent in the lattice structures, and hence, it is not easy to control these interesting properties by external parameters. We here theoretically investigate the possibility of generating the spin-orbital entanglement by spontaneous electronic ordering caused by electron correlations.

Frustration and chiral orderings in correlated electron systems.

The term frustration refers to lattice systems whose ground state cannot simultaneously satisfy all the interactions. Frustration is an important property of correlated electron systems, which stems from the sign of loop products (similar to Wilson products) of interactions on a lattice. It was early recognized that geometric frustration can produce rather exotic physical behaviors, such as macroscopic ground state degeneracy and helimagnetism.

Magnetic Vortex Induced by Nonmagnetic Impurity in Frustrated Magnets.

We study the effect of a nonmagnetic impurity inserted in a two-dimensional frustrated ferromagnet above its saturation magnetic field H_{sat} for arbitrary spin S. We demonstrate that the ground state includes a magnetic vortex that is nucleated around the impurity over a finite range of magnetic field H_{sat}≤H≤H_{sat}^{I}. Upon approaching the quantum critical point at H=H_{sat}, the radius of the magnetic vortex diverges as the magnetic correlation length: ξ∝1/sqrt[H-H_{sat}].