114 research outputs found
Target-skyrmions and skyrmion clusters in nanowires of chiral magnets
In bulk non-centrosymmetric magnets the chiral Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange
stabilizes tubular skyrmions with a reversed magnetization in their centers.
While the double-twist is favorable in the center of a skyrmion, it gives rise
to an excess of the energy density at the outskirt. Therefore, magnetic
anisotropies are required to make skyrmions more favorable than the conical
spiral state in bulk materials. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that in
magnetic nanowires unusual skyrmions with a doubly twisted core and a number of
concentric helicoidal undulations (target-skyrmions) are thermodynamically
stable even in absence of single-ion anisotropies. Such skyrmions are free of
magnetic charges and, since the angle describing the direction of magnetization
at the surface depends on the radius of the nanowire and an applied magnetic
field, they carry a non-integer skyrmion charge s > 1. This state competes with
clusters of spatially separated s=1 skyrmions. For very small radii, the
target-skyrmion transforms into a skyrmion with s < 1, that resembles the
vortex-like state stabilized by surface-induced anisotropies
Solitonic spin-liquid state due to the violation of the Lifshitz condition in FeTe
A combination of phenomenological analysis and M\"ossbauer spectroscopy
experiments on the tetragonal FeTe system indicates that the magnetic
ordering transition in compounds with higher Fe-excess, 0.11, is
unconventional. Experimentally, a liquid-like magnetic precursor with
quasi-static spin-order is found from significantly broadened M\"ossbauer
spectra at temperatures above the antiferromagnetic transition. The
incommensurate spin-density wave (SDW) order in FeTe is described by a
magnetic free energy that violates the weak Lifshitz condition in the Landau
theory of second-order transitions. The presence of multiple Lifshitz
invariants provides the mechanism to create multidimensional, twisted, and
modulated solitonic phases.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Pressure-induced ferromagnetism due to an anisotropic electronic topological transition in Fe1.08Te
A rapid and anisotropic modification of the Fermi-surface shape can be
associated with abrupt changes in crystalline lattice geometry or in the
magnetic state of a material. In this study we show that such an electronic
topological transition is at the basis of the formation of an unusual
pressure-induced tetragonal ferromagnetic phase in FeTe. Around 2 GPa,
the orthorhombic and incommensurate antiferromagnetic ground-state of
FeTe is transformed upon increasing pressure into a tetragonal
ferromagnetic state via a conventional first-order transition. On the other
hand, an isostructural transition takes place from the paramagnetic
high-temperature state into the ferromagnetic phase as a rare case of a `type
0' transformation with anisotropic properties. Electronic-structure
calculations in combination with electrical resistivity, magnetization, and
x-ray diffraction experiments show that the electronic system of FeTe
is instable with respect to profound topological transitions that can drive
fundamental changes of the lattice anisotropy and the associated magnetic
order.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figur
Chiral skyrmions in thin magnetic films: new objects for magnetic storage technologies?
Axisymmetric magnetic lines of nanometer sizes (chiral vortices or skyrmions)
have been predicted to exist in a large group of noncentrosymmetric crystals
more than two decades ago. Recently these magnetic textures have been directly
observed in nanolayers of cubic helimagnets and monolayers of magnetic metals.
We develop a micromagnetic theory of chiral skyrmions in thin magnetic layers
for magnetic materials with intrinsic and induced chirality. Such particle-like
and stable micromagnetic objects can exist in broad ranges of applied magnetic
fields including zero field. Chiral skyrmions can be used as a new type of
highly mobile nanoscale data carriers
First-order structural transition in the magnetically ordered phase of Fe1.13Te
Specific heat, resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, linear thermal expansion
(LTE), and high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction investigations
of single crystals Fe1+yTe (0.06 < y < 0.15) reveal a splitting of a single,
first-order transition for y 0.12. Most
strikingly, all measurements on identical samples Fe1.13Te consistently
indicate that, upon cooling, the magnetic transition at T_N precedes the
first-order structural transition at a lower temperature T_s. The structural
transition in turn coincides with a change in the character of the magnetic
structure. The LTE measurements along the crystallographic c-axis displays a
small distortion close to T_N due to a lattice striction as a consequence of
magnetic ordering, and a much larger change at T_s. The lattice symmetry
changes, however, only below T_s as indicated by powder X-ray diffraction. This
behavior is in stark contrast to the sequence in which the phase transitions
occur in Fe pnictides.Comment: 6 page
Exchange shift of stripe domains in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers
Antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy, as
[CoPt]/Ru, Co/Ir, Fe/Au, display ferromagnetic stripe phases as the ground
states. It is theoretically shown that the antiferromagnetic interlayer
exchange causes a relative shift of domains in adjacent layers. This ``exchange
shift'' is responsible for several recently observed effects: an anomalous
broadening of domain walls, the formation of so-called ``tiger-tail'' patterns,
and a ``mixed state'' of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic domains in
[CoPt]/Ru multilayers. The derived analitical relations between the values of
the shift and the strength of antiferromagnetic coupling provide an effective
method for a quantitative determination of the interlayer exchange
interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Precursor phenomena at the magnetic ordering of the cubic helimagnet FeGe
We report on detailed magnetic measurements on the cubic helimagnet FeGe in
external magnetic fields and temperatures near the onset of long-range magnetic
order at K. Precursor phenomena display a complex succession of
temperature-driven crossovers and phase transitions in the vicinity of .
The A-phase region, present below and fields kOe, is split in
several pockets. Relying on a modified phenomenological theory for chiral
magnets, the main part of the A-phase could indicate the existence of a
Skyrmion lattice, the adjacent A pocket, however, appears to be related to
helicoids propagating in directions perpendicular to the applied field.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Scaling Study and Thermodynamic Properties of the cubic Helimagnet FeGe
The critical behavior of the cubic helimagnet FeGe was obtained from
isothermal magnetization data in very close vicinity of the ordering
temperature. A thorough and consistent scaling analysis of these data revealed
the critical exponents , , and . The
anomaly in the specific heat associated with the magnetic ordering can be well
described by the critical exponent . The values of these
exponents corroborate that the magnetic phase transition in FeGe belongs to the
isotropic 3D-Heisenberg universality class. The specific heat data are well
described by ab initio phonon calculations and confirm the localized character
of the magnetic moments.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
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