Insight into the electronic structure of the centrosymmetric skyrmion magnet GdRu2Si2

The discovery of a square magnetic-skyrmion lattice in GdRu2Si2, with the smallest so far found skyrmion size and without a geometrically frustrated lattice, has attracted significant attention. In this work, we present a comprehensive study of surface and bulk electronic structures of GdRu2Si2 by utilizing momentum-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements and first-principles calculations. We show how the electronic structure evolves during the antiferromagnetic transition when a peculiar helical order of 4f magnetic moments within the Gd layers sets in. A nice agreement of the ARPES-derived electronic structure with the calculated one has allowed us to characterize the features of the Fermi surface (FS), unveil the nested region along kz at the corner of the 3D FS, and reveal their orbital compositions. Our findings suggest that the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction plays a decisive role in stabilizing the spiral-like order of Gd 4f moments responsible for the skyrmion physics in GdRu2Si2. Our results provide a deeper understanding of electronic and magnetic properties of this material, which is crucial for predicting and developing novel skyrmion-based systems.

Long-lived spin waves in a metallic antiferromagnet

Collective spin excitations in magnetically ordered crystals, called magnons or spin waves, can serve as carriers in novel spintronic devices with ultralow energy consumption. The generation of well-detectable spin flows requires long lifetimes of high-frequency magnons. In general, the lifetime of spin waves in a metal is substantially reduced due to a strong coupling of magnons to the Stoner continuum. This makes metals unattractive for use as components for magnonic devices. Here, we present the metallic antiferromagnet CeCo2P2, which exhibits long-living magnons even in the terahertz (THz) regime. For CeCo2P2, our first-principle calculations predict a suppression of low-energy spin-flip Stoner excitations, which is verified by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering measurements. By comparison to the isostructural compound LaCo2P2, we show how small structural changes can dramatically alter the electronic structure around the Fermi level leading to the classical picture of the strongly damped magnons intrinsic to metallic systems. Our results not only demonstrate that long-lived magnons in the THz regime can exist in bulk metallic systems, but they also open a path for an efficient search for metallic magnetic systems in which undamped THz magnons can be excited.

Insight into the Temperature-Dependent Canting of 4f Magnetic Moments from 4f Photoemission

The orientation of the 4f moments offers an additional degree of freedom for engineering the spin-related properties in spintronic nanostructures of lanthanides. Yet, precise monitoring of the direction of magnetic moments remains a challenge. Here, on the example of the antiferromagnets HoRh₂Si₂ and DyRh₂Si₂, we investigate the temperature-dependent canting of the 4f moments near the surface. We demonstrate that this canting can be understood in the framework of crystal electric field theory and the exchange magnetic interaction. Using photoelectron spectroscopy, we disclose subtle but certain temperature-dependent changes in the line shape of the 4f multiplet. These changes are directly linked to the canting of the 4f moments, which is different for the individual lanthanide layers near the surface. Our results illustrate the opportunity to monitor the orientation of the 4f-moments with high precision, which is essential for development of novel lanthanide-based nanostructures, interfaces, supramolecular complexes, and single-molecule magnets for various applications.

Insight into the Temperature Evolution of Electronic Structure and Mechanism of Exchange Interaction in EuS

Discovered in 1962, the divalent ferromagnetic semiconductor EuS (T_C = 16.5 K, E_g = 1.65 eV) has remained constantly relevant to the engineering of novel magnetically active interfaces, heterostructures, and multilayer sequences and to combination with topological materials. Because detailed information on the electronic structure of EuS and, in particular, its evolution across T_C is not well-represented in the literature but is essential for the development of new functional systems, the present work aims at filling this gap. Our angle-resolved photoemission measurements complemented with first-principles calculations demonstrate how the electronic structure of EuS evolves across a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition. Our results emphasize the importance of the strong Eu 4f-S 3p mixing for exchange-magnetic splittings of the sulfur-derived bands as well as coupling between f and d orbitals of neighboring Eu atoms to derive the value of T_C accurately. The 4f-3p mixing facilitates the coupling between 4f and 5d orbitals of neighboring Eu atoms, which mainly governs the exchange interaction in EuS.

Cubic Rashba Effect in the Surface Spin Structure of Rare-Earth Ternary Materials

Spin-orbit interaction and structure inversion asymmetry in combination with magnetic ordering is a promising route to novel materials with highly mobile spin-polarized carriers at the surface. Spin-resolved measurements of the photoemission current from the Si-terminated surface of the antiferromagnet TbRh_{2}Si_{2} and their analysis within an ab initio one-step theory unveil an unusual triple winding of the electron spin along the fourfold-symmetric constant energy contours of the surface states. A two-band k·p model is presented that yields the triple winding as a cubic Rashba effect. The curious in-plane spin-momentum locking is remarkably robust and remains intact across a paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition in spite of spin-orbit interaction on Rh atoms being considerably weaker than the out-of-plane exchange field due to the Tb 4f moments.