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Néel-type skyrmion lattice with confined orientation in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8

Nature Materials volume 14, pages 1116–1122 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Following the early prediction of the skyrmion lattice (SkL)—a periodic array of spin vortices—it has been observed recently in various magnetic crystals mostly with chiral structure. Although non-chiral but polar crystals with Cnv symmetry were identified as ideal SkL hosts in pioneering theoretical studies, this archetype of SkL has remained experimentally unexplored. Here, we report the discovery of a SkL in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8 with rhombohedral (C3v) symmetry and easy axis anisotropy. The SkL exists over an unusually broad temperature range compared with other bulk crystals and the orientation of the vortices is not controlled by the external magnetic field, but instead confined to the magnetic easy axis. Supporting theory attributes these unique features to a new Néel-type of SkL describable as a superposition of spin cycloids in contrast to the Bloch-type SkL in chiral magnets described in terms of spin helices.

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Figure 1: Comparison between Bloch- and Néel-type skyrmions following refs 4, 6.
Figure 2: Magnetic phases in the lacunar spinel GaV4S8.
Figure 3: Real-space imaging of the magnetic patterns in GaV4S8.
Figure 4: Small-angle neutron scattering study of the magnetic states in GaV4S8.
Figure 5: Tracing the magnetic phase boundaries by SANS.
Figure 6: Spin patterns in the magnetic phases of GaV4S8.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. A. K. V. Nidda and T. Fehér for useful discussions. This work was supported by the Hungarian Research Funds OTKA K 108918, OTKA PD 111756 and Bolyai 00565/14/11, by the European Research Council Project CONQUEST, by the Swiss NSF Grant Nos. 153451, 146870 and 141962, by the DFG under Grant No. SFB 1143 and via the Transregional Research Collaboration TRR 80 From Electronic Correlations to Functionality (Augsburg/Munich/Stuttgart) and by JSPS KAKENHI under Grant Nos. 25870169 and 25287088 from MEXT Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Magneto-optical Spectroscopy Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Hungary

    I. Kézsmárki & S. Bordács

  2. Experimental Physics V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg, Germany

    I. Kézsmárki, D. Ehlers, V. Tsurkan & A. Loidl

  3. Institut für Angewandte Photophysik, TU Dresden, D-01069 Dresden, Germany

    P. Milde, E. Neuber & L. M. Eng

  4. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland

    J. S. White

  5. Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    H. M. Rønnow

  6. Institut Laue-Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz 38042 Grenoble, France,

    C. D. Dewhurst

  7. Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama Gakuin University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8558, Japan

    M. Mochizuki & K. Yanai

  8. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan

    M. Mochizuki

  9. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

    H. Nakamura

  10. Institute of Applied Physics, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, MD 2028, Chisinau, Republica Moldova

    V. Tsurkan

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  1. I. Kézsmárki
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Contributions

I.K., S.B., P.M., E.N., L.M.E., J.S.W., C.D.D., D.E. and V.T. performed the measurements; I.K., S.B., P.M., E.N., H.M.R., J.S.W. and A.L. analysed the data; V.T. and H.N. contributed to the sample preparation; M.M. and K.Y. developed the theory; I.K. wrote the manuscript and planned the project.

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Correspondence to I. Kézsmárki.

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Kézsmárki, I., Bordács, S., Milde, P. et al. Néel-type skyrmion lattice with confined orientation in the polar magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8. Nature Mater 14, 1116–1122 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4402

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