Size is a fundamental quantity of magnetic skyrmions. A magnetic skyrmion can be a local circular object and in an isolated form. A skyrmion can also coexist with a group of its siblings in a condensed phase. Each skyrmion in a condensed phase takes a stripe shape at low skyrmion density and a circular shape at high skyrmion density. Skyrmions at high density form a skyrmion crystal (SkX). So far, skyrmion size in an SkX has not been seriously studied. Here, by using a generic chiral magnetic film, it is found that skyrmion size in an SkX has a different parameter dependence as those for isolated skyrmions and stripes. A size formula and a good spin profile for skyrmions in SkXs are proposed. These findings have important implications in searching for stable smaller skyrmions at the room temperature.

Skyrmions are important in quantum field theory and information technology for being topological solitons and for their attractive applications. Magnetic skyrmions are believed to be circular and stripy spin textures accompanied skyrmion crystals (SkXs) termed spiral/helical/cycloid orders have zero skyrmion number. Here we show that those stripy spin textures are skyrmions, siblings of circular skyrmions in SkXs and cousins of isolated circular skyrmions. Various irregular morphologies are the nature structures of skyrmions in the ground states. At the extreme of one skyrmion in the whole sample, the skyrmion is a ramified stripe. As the skyrmion number density increases, skyrmion shapes gradually change from ramified stripes to rectangular stripes, and eventually to circular objects. At a high skyrmion number density, SkXs are the preferred states. Our findings reveal the nature and properties of stripy spin texture, and open an avenue for manipulating skyrmions.

A generic theory about skyrmion crystal (SkX) formation in chiral magnetic thin films and its fascinating thermodynamic behaviours is presented. A chiral magnetic film can have many metastable states with...

Butterfly magnetoresistance (BMR) and antisymmetric magnetoresistance (ASMR) are about a butterfly-cross curve and a curve with one peak and one valley when a magnetic field is swept up and down along a fixed direction. Other than the parallelogram-shaped magnetoresistance-curve (MR-curve) often observed in magnetic memory devices, BMR and ASMR are two ubiquitous types of MR-curves observed in diversified magnetic systems, including van der Waals materials, strongly correlated systems, and traditional magnets. Here, we reveal the general principles and the picture behind the BMR and the ASMR that do not depend on the detailed mechanisms of magnetoresistance: 1) The systems exhibit hysteresis loops, common for most magnetic materials with coercivities. 2) The magnetoresistance of the magnetic structures in a large positive magnetic field and in a large negative magnetic field is approximately the same. With the generalized Ohm’s law in magnetic materials, these principles explain why most BMR appears in the longitudinal resistance measurements and is very rare in the Hall resistance measurements. Simple toy models, in which the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation governs magnetization, are used to demonstrate the principles and explain the appearance and disappearance of BMR in various experiments. Our finding provides a simple picture to understand magnetoresistance-related experiments.

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Skyrmions are important in topological quantum field theory for being soliton solutions of nonlinear sigma model and magnetics for their attractive applications in information technology. Either isolated skyrmions or skyrmion crystals may exist in a given chiral magnet, but not both at the same time. When skyrmion crystals, in which skyrmions often arrange themselves into triangular lattices, can be observed in a chiral magnet, stripy spin textures in various forms appear also and even mix with skyrmion crystals. People believe that skyrmions are circular objects and stripy spin textures have zero skyrmion number. Those stripy spin textures are called anything such as spiral, helical, and cycloid spin orders, but not skyrmions. Here we present convincing evidences showing that those stripy spin textures are skyrmions, ``siblings" of circular skyrmions in skyrmion crystals and ``cousins" of isolated circular skyrmions. Specifically, isolated skyrmions are excitations of chiral magnetic films whose ground states are ferromagnetic and skyrmion formation energy is positive. When the skyrmion formation energy is negative (relative to the single domain state), condensed skyrmions are the ground states and stripe skyrmions appear spontaneously. The density of skyrmion number determines the morphology of condensed skyrmion states. At the extreme of one skyrmion in the whole sample, the skyrmion has a ramified stripe structure that maximizes the skyrmion wall length in order to lower system energy. As the skyrmion number density increases, individual skyrmion shapes gradually change from ramified stripes to rectangular stripes, and eventually to disk-like objects due to the competition between negative formation energy and stripe-stripe or skyrmion-skyrmion repulsion. At a low skyrmion number density, the natural width of stripes is proportional to the ratio between the exchange stiffness constant and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction coefficient. At a high skyrmion number density, skyrmion crystals are the preferred states. Our findings reveal the nature and properties of stripy spin texture, and open a new avenue for manipulating skyrmions, especially condensed skyrmions such as skyrmion crystals.