Journal Article

Observation of the Chiral Soliton Lattice above Room Temperature

Turnbull, L. A., Štefančič, A., van der Laan, G., Hatton, P. D., Balakrishnan, G., Moody, S. H., Hesjedal, T., Brearton, R.

2023

Overview

Magnetic chiral soliton lattices (CSLs) emerge from the helical phase in chiral magnets when magnetic fields are applied perpendicular to the helical propagation vector, and they show great promise for next‐generation magnetic memory applications. These one‐dimensional structures are previously observed at low temperatures in samples with uniaxial symmetry. Here, it is found that in‐plane fields are the key to stabilizing the CSL in cubic Co8Zn10Mn2 over the entire temperature range from 15 K to below the Curie temperature (365 K). Using small‐angle resonant elastic X‐ray scattering, it is observed that the CSL is stabilized with an arbitrary in‐plane propagation vector, while its thin plate geometry plays a deciding role in the soliton wavelength as a function of applied field. This work paves the way for high temperature, real world applications of soliton physics in future magnetic memory devices. The chiral soliton lattice (CSL) state is demonstrated at temperatures of up to 355 K in Co8Zn10Mn2. In contrast to the low‐temperature CSL material Cr1/3NbS2, the CSL state in Co8Zn10Mn2 is not governed by crystallographic constraints. Instead, it is controlled by in‐plane fields, enabling their device integration and opening the door to room‐temperature solitonic applications.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley-VCH
• Subject: chiral soliton lattices / Cubic lattice / Curie temperature / Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction / Elastic scattering / Electrons / Energy / High temperature / Low temperature / Magnetic fields / magnetic solitons / Magnets / Memory devices / Propagation / Room temperature / Solitary waves / Symmetry / Temperature / Thin plates / topological spin textures / transmission resonant elastic X‐ray scattering