2015/02/27 by I. Kézsmárki, S. Bordács, Kézsmárki, I. +25 · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Magnetic confinement fusion research #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1502.08049
openalex publication_date 2015/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
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 identifed 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 feld but instead confned to the magnetic easy axis. Supporting theory attributes these unique features to a new non-chiral or 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.