Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Magnetic Thin Films and Multilayers

Bogdanov, A. N.; Rößler, U.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.87.037203

Cited by 535 publications

(455 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…To interpret and explain the asymmetric process of VS formation, we took the DMI into consideration, because it inevitably arises from the spin-orbital coupling due to the broken inversion symmetry at surfaces/interfaces in magnetic thin layers 17,18 . The DMI has been discussed as the origin for spin spiral textures and has been theoretically predicted to affect the shape and size of magnetic vortices 20,21 .…”

Section: D Micromagnetic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A priori, one would expect the energy of the four states to be degenerate. A non-degeneracy would not only constitute an unconventional physical phenomenon at the nanoscale but could also lead to potentially interesting applications of magnetic vortices with regard to magnetic sensor or logic elements 16,17 . Owing to the lack of experimental techniques enabling simultaneous imaging of in-plane (c) and out-of-plane (p) magnetic components in nanopatterned structures, most of the experiments on magnetic vortices reported so far have focussed on either the chirality or polarity 9,15 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The origin of the experimentally observed asymmetric phenomenon is interpreted as the combination of an 'intrinsic' Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) arising from the spin-orbit coupling 17,18 and surface-related 'extrinsic' factors, such as edge defects, surface roughness, and so on. We utilize full-field magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy (MTXM) with high-spatial resolution down to 20 nm (ref.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Symmetry breaking in the formation of magnetic vortex states in a permalloy nanodisk

et al. 2012

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The magnetic vortex in nanopatterned elements is currently attracting enormous interest. A priori, one would assume that the formation of magnetic vortex states should exhibit a perfect symmetry, because the magnetic vortex has four degenerate states. Here we show the first direct observation of an asymmetric phenomenon in the formation process of vortex states in a permalloy nanodisk using high-resolution full-field magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy. micromagnetic simulations confirm that the intrinsic Dzyaloshinskii-moriya interaction, which arises from the spin-orbit coupling due to the lack of inversion symmetry near the disk surface, as well as surface-related extrinsic factors, is decisive for the asymmetric formation of vortex states.

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Section: D Micromagnetic Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Symmetry breaking in the formation of magnetic vortex states in a permalloy nanodisk

et al. 2012

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“…It was suggested that the interplay of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) and Zeeman interactions helps to reveal the otherwise hidden antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). It was argued that the observed chirality is a fingerprint of the DMI resulting from the lack of the symmetry inversion at the interfaces [12].…”

Section: Pacs Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field-induced chirality in the helix structure of Ho/Y multilayers

Tarnavich

Lott

Mattauch³

et al. 2014

Phys. Rev. B

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“…In particular, our model also applies to antiferromagnetic crystals with chiral symmetry by replacing the magnetiza-8 tion with a staggered antiferromagnetic vector order parameter [38]. Owing to the broken inversion symmetry at the surfaces of magnetic materials [28,29] …”

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Spontaneous skyrmion ground states in magnetic metals

Rößler

Bogdanov

Pfleiderer

2006

Nature

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1,865

1,517

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1Since the 1950s Heisenberg and others have attempted to explain the appearance of countable particles in quantum field theory in terms of stable localized field configurations [1]. As an exception Skyrme's model succeeded to describe nuclear particles as localized states, so-called 'skyrmions', within a non-linear field theory [2]. Skyrmions are a characteristic of non-linear continuum models ranging from microscopic to cosmological scales [3,4,5,6]. Skyrmionic states have been found under non-equilibrium conditions, or when stabilised by external fields or the proliferation of topological defects. Examples are Turing patterns in classical liquids [7], spin textures in quantum Hall magnets [8], or the blue phases in liquid crystals [9], respectively. However, it is believed that skyrmions cannot form spontaneous ground states like ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic order in magnetic materials. Here, we show theoretically that this assumption is wrong and that skyrmion textures may form spontaneously in condensed matter systems with chiral interactions without the assistance of external fields or the proliferation of defects. We show this within a phenomenological continuum model, that is based on a few material-specific parameters that may be determined from experiment. As a new condition not considered before, we allow for softened amplitude variations of the magnetisation -a key property of, for instance, metallic magnets. Our model implies that spontaneous skyrmion lattice ground states may exist quite generally in a large number of materials, notably at surfaces and in thin films as well as in bulk compounds, where a lack of space inversion symmetry leads to chiral interactions.The possibility that particle-like states may form spontaneously in continuous fields has motivated intense theoretical efforts in the past. Derrick and Hobart established by rather general arguments that particle-like configurations are not stable in the majority of nonlinear field models [10,11]. However, a few exceptions have been found. Skyrme showed that particle-like excitations of continuous fields exist in the presence of certain non-linear interactions [2]. As a drawback, the interactions considered by Skyrme are physically not transparent, because they involve higher order derivative terms that are technically intractable. Therefore, Skyrme's approach is not viable in the context of ordered states in condensed matter that are ruled by short range interactions. In contrast, a physically transparent exception to the Derrick-Hobart theorem has been recognized in systems with bro-2 ken inversion symmetry, where chiral interactions lead to skyrmion excitations in condensed matter systems [12,14,16]. Chiral interactions exist in many different systems, e.g., (i) spin-orbit interactions in non-centrosymmetric materials, also referred to as DzyaloshinskyMoriya (DM) interactions [13], (ii) in non-centrosymmetric ferroelectrics, (iii) for certain structural phase transitions, (iv) in chiral liquid crystals, and (v) in the form of Che...

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Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Magnetic Thin Films and Multilayers

Cited by 535 publications

References 27 publications

Symmetry breaking in the formation of magnetic vortex states in a permalloy nanodisk

Symmetry breaking in the formation of magnetic vortex states in a permalloy nanodisk

Field-induced chirality in the helix structure of Ho/Y multilayers

Spontaneous skyrmion ground states in magnetic metals

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