Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet

Skyrmions represent topologically stable field configurations with particle-like properties. We used neutron scattering to observe the spontaneous formation of a two-dimensional lattice of skyrmion lines, a type of magnetic vortices, in the chiral itinerant-electron magnet MnSi. The skyrmion lattice stabilizes at the border between paramagnetism and long-range helimagnetic order perpendicular to a small applied magnetic field regardless of the direction of the magnetic field relative to the atomic lattice. Our study experimentally establishes magnetic materials lacking inversion symmetry as an arena for new forms of crystalline order composed of topologically stable spin states

Chirality induced anomalous-Hall effect in helical spin crystals

Under pressure, the itinerant helimagnet MnSi displays unusual magnetic properties. We have previously discussed a BCC helical spin crystal as a promising starting point for describing the high pressure phenomenology. This state has topologically nontrivial configurations of the magnetization field. Here we note the consequences for magneto-transport that arise generally from such spin textures. In particular a skyrmion density induced `topological' Hall effect, with unusual field dependence, is described.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of SCES 07 (the international conference on strongly correlated electron systems 2007 in Houston, USA

Magnetic phase diagram of MnSi inferred from magnetization and ac susceptibility

We report simultaneous measurements of the magnetization and the ac susceptibility across the magnetic phase diagram of single-crystal MnSi. In our study we explore the importance of the excitation frequency, excitation amplitude, sample shape, and crystallographic orientation. The susceptibility, dM/dH, calculated from the magnetization, is dominated by pronounced maxima at the transition from the helical to the conical and the conical to the skyrmion lattice phase. The maxima in dM/dH are not tracked by the ac susceptibility, which in addition varies sensitively with the excitation amplitude and frequency at the transition from the conical to the skyrmion lattice phase. The same differences between dM/dH and the ac susceptibility exist for Mn1-xFexSi (x=0.04) and Fe1-xCoxSi (x=0.20). Taken together our study establishes consistently for all major crystallographic directions the existence of a single pocket of the skyrmion lattice phase in MnSi, suggestive of a universal characteristic of all B20 transition metal compounds with helimagnetic order.Comment: 19 pages, 20 figure

Peculiar behavior of the electrical resistivity of MnSi at the ferromagnetic phase transition

The electrical resistivity of a single crystal of MnSi was measured across its ferromagnetic phase transition line at ambient and high pressures. Sharp peaks of the temperature coefficient of resistivity characterize the transition line. Analysis of these data shows that at pressures to ~0.35 GPa these peaks have fine structure, revealing a shoulder at ~ 0.5 K above the peak. It is symptomatic that this structure disappears at pressures higher than ~0.35 GPa, which was identified earlier as a tricritical poin

Uniaxial pressure dependence of magnetic order in MnSi

We report comprehensive small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements complemented by ac susceptibility data of the helical order, conical phase and skyrmion lattice phase (SLP) in MnSi under uniaxial pressures. For all crystallographic orientations uniaxial pressure favours the phase for which a spatial modulation of the magnetization is closest to the pressure axis. Uniaxial pressures as low as 1kbar applied perpendicular to the magnetic field axis enhance the skyrmion lattice phase substantially, whereas the skyrmion lattice phase is suppressed for pressure parallel to the field. Taken together we present quantitative microscopic information how strain couples to magnetic order in the chiral magnet MnSi.Comment: 23 pages, includes supplemen