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research article

Square and rhombic lattices of magnetic skyrmions in a centrosymmetric binary compound

Takagi, Rina
•
Matsuyama, Naofumi
•
Ukleev, Victor
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March 30, 2022
Nature Communications

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable swirling spin textures with particle-like character, and have been intensively studied as a candidate of high-density information bit. While magnetic skyrmions were originally discovered in noncentrosymmetric systems with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, recently a nanometric skyrmion lattice has also been reported for centrosymmetric rare-earth compounds, such as Gd2PdSi3 and GdRu2Si2. For the latter systems, a distinct skyrmion formation mechanism mediated by itinerant electrons has been proposed, and the search of a simpler model system allowing for a better understanding of their intricate magnetic phase diagram is highly demanded. Here, we report the discovery of square and rhombic lattices of nanometric skyrmions in a centrosymmetric binary compound EuAl4, by performing small-angle neutron and resonant elastic X-ray scattering experiments. Unlike previously reported centrosymmetric skyrmion-hosting materials, EuAl4 shows multiple-step reorientation of the fundamental magnetic modulation vector as a function of magnetic field, probably reflecting a delicate balance of associated itinerant-electron-mediated interactions. The present results demonstrate that a variety of distinctive skyrmion orders can be derived even in a simple centrosymmetric binary compound, which highlights rare-earth intermetallic systems as a promising platform to realize/control the competition of multiple topological magnetic phases in a single material. Typically, skyrmions appear in magnet systems which are non-centrosymmetric. Here, using neutron and X-ray scattering, Takagi et al show the emergence of a skyrmion phase in the centrosymmetric material EuAl4. This expands the range of materials potential hosting skyrmions.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-29131-9
Web of Science ID

WOS:000776282500011

Author(s)
Takagi, Rina
Matsuyama, Naofumi
Ukleev, Victor
Yu, Le  
White, Jonathan S.
Francoual, Sonia
Mardegan, Jose R. L.
Hayami, Satoru
Saito, Hiraku
Kaneko, Koji
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Date Issued

2022-03-30

Publisher

Nature Research

Published in
Nature Communications
Volume

13

Issue

1

Article Number

1472

Subjects

Multidisciplinary Sciences

•

Science & Technology - Other Topics

•

states

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

Available on Infoscience
April 25, 2022
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/187391
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