Nii Y, Kikkawa A, Taguchi Y, Tokura Y, Iwasa Y. Elastic stiffness of a Skyrmion crystal.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2014;
113:267203. [PMID:
25615379 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.113.267203]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We observe the elastic stiffness and ultrasonic absorption of a Skyrmion crystal in the chiral-lattice magnet MnSi. The Skyrmion crystal lattice exhibits a stiffness 3 orders of magnitude smaller than that of the atomic lattice of MnSi, being as soft as the flux line lattice in type-II superconductors. The observed anisotropic elastic responses are consistent with the cylindrical shape of the Skyrmion spin texture. Phenomenological analysis reveals that the spin-orbit coupling is responsible for the emergence of anisotropic elasticity in the Skyrmion lattice.
Collapse