Topological spin structures, such as magnetic skyrmions, hold great promises for data storage applications, thanks to their inherent stability. In most cases, skyrmions are stabilized by magnetic fields in non-centrosymmetric systems displaying the chiral Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction, while spontaneous skyrmion lattices have been reported in centrosymmetric itinerant magnets with long-range interactions. Here, a spontaneous anti-biskyrmion lattice with unique topology and chirality is predicted in the monolayer of a semiconducting and centrosymmetric metal halide, NiI. Our first-principles and Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the anisotropies of the short-range symmetric exchange, when combined with magnetic frustration, can lead to an emergent chiral interaction that is responsible for the predicted topological spin structures. The proposed mechanism finds a prototypical manifestation in two-dimensional magnets, thus broadening the class of materials that can host spontaneous skyrmionic states.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19535-w | DOI Listing |
Adv Mater
January 2025
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Devices for Post-Moore Chips, Ministry of Education, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
Magnetic antiskyrmions, the anti-quasiparticles of magnetic skyrmions, possess alternating Bloch- and Néel-type spin spirals, rendering them promising for advanced spintronics-based information storage. To date, antiskyrmions are demonstrated in a few bulk materials featuring anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and a limited number of artificial multilayers. Identifying novel film materials capable of hosting isolated antiskyrmions is critical for memory applications in topological spintronics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Lett
January 2025
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Low-Energy Quantum Materials and Devices, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China.
We report deterministic operations on single dipolar skyrmions confined in nanostructured cuboids by using in-plane currents. We achieve highly reversible writing and deleting of skyrmions in a simple cuboid without any artificial defects or pinning sites. The current-induced creation of skyrmions is well-understood through the spin-transfer torque acting on surface spin twists of the spontaneous 3D ferromagnetic state, caused by the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction of the uniaxial FeSn magnet with a low-quality factor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
November 2024
Theoretical Division, T-4 and CNLS, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
We study the Kondo lattice model of multipolar magnetic moments interacting with conduction electrons on a triangular lattice. Bond-dependent electron hoppings induce a compasslike anisotropy in the effective Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction between multipolar moments. This unique anisotropy stabilizes multipolar skyrmion crystals at zero magnetic field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Lett
November 2024
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan.
Nanoscale exotic polar topological structures, such as vortices and skyrmions, hold promise for next-generation electronic devices, yet their spontaneous formation in 2D van der Waals (vdW) materials remains quite challenging. Herein, we demonstrate from first-principles that ultrahigh-density polar vortices emerge in the square moiré bilayer formed by twisting two layers of centrosymmetric PbS with the point group. The emerged ferroelectricity arises from the inherent complex strain associated with the twisted structures, and the resulting electron polarization is much greater than that obtained in sliding ferroelectricity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
August 2024
Soft Condensed Matter & Biophysics, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, 3584 CC, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Skyrmions are topologically protected, vortex-like structures found in various condensed-matter systems including helical ferromagnets and liquid crystals, typically arising from chiral interactions. Using extensive particle-based simulations, we demonstrate that non-chiral hard banana-shaped particles, governed solely by excluded-volume interactions, spontaneously stabilize skyrmion structures through the bend-flexoelectric effect. Under thin confinement, we observe the formation of quasi-2D layers of isolated skyrmions or dense skyrmion lattices.
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