Electric field control of the skyrmion lattice in Cu<sub>2</sub>OSeO<sub>3</sub>

White, J. S.; Levatić, Ivana; Omrani, Arash A.; Egetenmeyer, N.; Prša, Krunoslav; Živković, Ivica; Gavilano, J. L.; Kohlbrecher, J.; Bartkowiak, M.; Berger, H.; Rønnow, Henrik M.

doi:10.1088/0953-8984/24/43/432201

Cited by 158 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…1(b)]. Consistent with previous work [33], applying a dc E field within the SKL state does not discernibly alter the SKL orientation. Here, we discover that by additionally oscillating μ 0 H weakly around its mean value, a SKL rotation is generated that saturates at an angle dependent solely on the E field.…”

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confidence: 88%

“…3(a), we chose our experimental conditions so as to never cross the SKL phase boundary. This was done to avoid any effect due to E-field poling which, as shown previously, may influence the SKL orientation [33]. Third, any residual leakage currents under applied E fields were always ≲10 −2 A · m −2 , and insufficient to induce Skyrmion motion.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

et al. 2014

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Uniquely in Cu 2 OSeO 3 , the Skyrmions, which are topologically protected magnetic spin vortexlike objects, display a magnetoelectric coupling and can be manipulated by externally applied electric (E) fields. Here, we explore the E-field coupling to the magnetoelectric Skyrmion lattice phase, and study the response using neutron scattering. Giant E-field induced rotations of the Skyrmion lattice are achieved that span a range of ∼25°. Supporting calculations show that an E-field-induced Skyrmion distortion lies behind the lattice rotation. Overall, we present a new approach to Skyrmion control that makes no use of spin-transfer torques due to currents of either electrons or magnons. [12,13]. All have the chiral-cubic space group P2 1 3, a weak magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and common phase diagrams with a helimagnetic ground state. Despite these similarities, the diverse transport properties lead to material specific mechanisms for Skyrmion manipulation and the associated dynamics. In the well-studied itinerant compounds, spin-transfer torques (STTs) exerted by the conduction electrons of an ultralow current density, j ≲ 10 6 A·m −2 drive the Skyrmion motion [5,[14][15][16][17][18][19]. More generally, in both MnSi and insulating Cu 2 OSeO 3 , Skyrmion lattice (SKL) rotations are observed to be driven by STTs exerted by the magnon currents induced by a thermal gradient [20]. Even though electric currents and thermal gradients have been established to generate Skyrmion motion, it remains vital to find new control mechanisms which may lead to further efficient Skyrmion-based functionalities.In the insulating SKL host compounds, the chiral lattice promotes a magnetoelectric (ME) coupling between electric (E) and magnetic orders which can be expected to lie at the heart of new Skyrmion control paradigms. The use of ME coupling for Skyrmion manipulation is also attractive for applications since losses due to Joule heating are negligible. Presently, however, open questions remain concerning the basic understanding of how an applied E field can manipulate the Skyrmion spin texture. To address this issue, we have used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study the giant E-field-induced SKL rotations generated in a bulk sample of ME Cu 2 OSeO 3 . Surprisingly, the rotations saturate at an angle dependent on both the size and sign of the E field. With supporting calculations, we explain our observations, and show that an E-field-induced Skyrmion distortion leads to the observed rotations. This amounts to a new approach for Skyrmion control that does not require STTs.In Cu 2 OSeO 3 , the ME coupling exists in all magnetic phases [12,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], and is generated by the d-p hybridization mechanism [12,24,29,30]. This mechanism dictates a particular ME coupling anisotropy; for a magnetic field μ 0 H∥½110 or [111], an electric polarization P emerges ∥½001 or [111], respectively [24]. In our experiments, we chose E∥½111 (which corresponds to a negative applied voltage) or ∥½111 (positive voltage). T...

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confidence: 88%

Section: Fig 1 (Color Online) (A)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

et al. 2014

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“…The emergence of the skyrmion lattice phase was identified in the close vicinity of the paramagnetic-helical phase boundary of cubic chiral helimagnets, known as B20 compounds with a P 2 1 3 space group [3][4][5][6][7]. Cu 2 OSeO 3 , belonging to the same space group with a different crystal structure [8] is an insulating material demonstrated to host skyrmions [9,10], with a magnetoelectric character [11][12][13][14]. Since their experimental discovery, skyrmions have attracted much attention owing to their potential application as magnetic bits in high-capacity and low-consumption memory devices [15][16][17][18][19].…”

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confidence: 99%

Relaxation dynamics of modulated magnetic phases in the skyrmion host GaV4S8 : An ac magnetic susceptibility study

et al. 2017

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We report on the slow magnetization dynamics observed upon the magnetic phase transitions of GaV 4 S 8 , a multiferroic compound featuring a long-ranged cycloidal magnetic order and a Néel-type skyrmion lattice in a relatively broad temperature range below its Curie temperature. The fundamental difference between GaV 4 S 8 and the chiral helimagnets, the prototypical skyrmion host compounds, lies within the polar symmetry of GaV 4 S 8 , promoting a cycloidal instead of a helical magnetic order and rendering the magnetic phase diagram essentially different from that in the cubic helimagnets. Our ac magnetic susceptibility study reveals slow relaxation dynamics at the field-driven phase transitions between the cycloidal, skyrmion lattice and field-polarized states. At each phase boundary, the characteristic relaxation times were found to exhibit a strong temperature dependence, starting from the minute range at low temperatures, decreasing to the micro-to millisecond range at higher temperatures.

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“…Cu 2 OSeO 3 is actually the first example of an insulating material displaying the chiral helimagnetism that is desired for skyrmion formation while sharing the non-centrosymmetric cubic space group P2 1 3 of the metallic B20 phases, but with a unit cell that is much more complex, containing 16 Cu atoms. Due to the presence of a magnetoelectric coupling 15,16 , its skyrmions can be manipulated by an electric field [17][18][19] , which is in principle very energy efficient as this avoids losses due to joule heating.…”

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The quantum nature of skyrmions and half-skyrmions in Cu2OSeO3

et al. 2014

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The Skyrme-particle, the skyrmion, was introduced over half a century ago in the context of dense nuclear matter. But with skyrmions being mathematical objects-special types of topological solitons-they can emerge in much broader contexts. Recently skyrmions were observed in helimagnets, forming nanoscale spin-textures. Extending over length scales much larger than the interatomic spacing, they behave as large, classical objects, yet deep inside they are of quantum nature. Penetrating into their microscopic roots requires a multi-scale approach, spanning the full quantum to classical domain. Here, we achieve this for the first time in the skyrmionic Mott insulator Cu 2 OSeO 3 . We show that its magnetic building blocks are strongly fluctuating Cu 4 tetrahedra, spawning a continuum theory that culminates in 51 nm large skyrmions, in striking agreement with experiment. One of the further predictions that ensues is the temperature-dependent decay of skyrmions into half-skyrmions.

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Electric field control of the skyrmion lattice in Cu₂OSeO₃

Cited by 158 publications

References 26 publications

Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

Relaxation dynamics of modulated magnetic phases in the skyrmion host GaV4S8 : An ac magnetic susceptibility study

The quantum nature of skyrmions and half-skyrmions in Cu2OSeO3

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Electric field control of the skyrmion lattice in Cu2OSeO3

Cited by 158 publications

References 26 publications

Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

Electric-Field-Induced Skyrmion Distortion and Giant Lattice Rotation in the Magnetoelectric InsulatorCu2OSeO3

Relaxation dynamics of modulated magnetic phases in the skyrmion host GaV4S8 : An ac magnetic susceptibility study

The quantum nature of skyrmions and half-skyrmions in Cu2OSeO3

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Electric field control of the skyrmion lattice in Cu₂OSeO₃