Transition to and from the skyrmion lattice phase by electric fields in a magnetoelectric compound.

ABSTRACT: Dissipation-less electric control of magnetic state variable is an important target of contemporary spintronics. The non-volatile control of magnetic skyrmions, nanometre-sized spin-swirling objects, with electric fields may exemplify this goal. The skyrmion-hosting magnetoelectric chiral magnet Cu2OSeO3 provides a unique platform for the implementation of such control; however, the hysteresis that accompanies the first-order transition associated with the skyrmion phase is negligibly narrow in practice. Here we demonstrate another method that functions irrespective of the transition boundary. Combination of magnetic-susceptibility measurements and microwave spectroscopy reveals that although the metastable skyrmion lattice is normally hidden behind a more thermodynamically stable conical

SUBMITTER: Okamura Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025781 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature