Observation of fractional spin textures in a Heusler material

Jagannath Jena, Börge Göbel, Tomoki Hirosawa, Sebastián A. Díaz, Daniel Wolf, Taichi Hinokihara, Vivek Kumar, Ingrid Mertig, Claudia Felser, Axel Lubk, Daniel Loss and Stuart S. P. Parkin ()
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Jagannath Jena: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
Börge Göbel: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Tomoki Hirosawa: University of Tokyo
Sebastián A. Díaz: University of Basel
Daniel Wolf: Institute for Solid State Research, IFW Dresden
Taichi Hinokihara: University of Tokyo
Vivek Kumar: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Ingrid Mertig: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Claudia Felser: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Axel Lubk: Institute for Solid State Research, IFW Dresden
Daniel Loss: University of Basel
Stuart S. P. Parkin: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Recently a zoology of non-collinear chiral spin textures has been discovered, most of which, such as skyrmions and antiskyrmions, have integer topological charges. Here we report the experimental real-space observation of the formation and stability of fractional antiskyrmions and fractional elliptical skyrmions in a Heusler material. These fractional objects appear, over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field, at the edges of a sample, whose interior is occupied by an array of nano-objects with integer topological charges, in agreement with our simulations. We explore the evolution of these objects in the presence of magnetic fields and show their interconversion to objects with integer topological charges. This means the topological charge can be varied continuously. These fractional spin textures are not just another type of skyrmion, but are essentially a new state of matter that emerges and lives only at the boundary of a magnetic system. The coexistence of both integer and fractionally charged spin textures in the same material makes the Heusler family of compounds unique for the manipulation of the real-space topology of spin textures and thus an exciting platform for spintronic and magnonic applications.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29991-1

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