Multiply periodic states and isolated skyrmions in an anisotropic frustrated magnet

Abstract

Multiply periodic states appear in a wide variety of physical contexts, such as the Rayleigh–Bénard convection, Faraday waves, liquid crystals and skyrmion crystals recently observed in chiral magnets. Here we study the phase diagram of an anisotropic frustrated magnet which contains five different multiply periodic states including the skyrmion crystal. We clarify the mechanism for stabilization of these states and discuss how they can be observed in magnetic resonance and electric polarization measurements. We also find stable isolated skyrmions with topological charge 1 and 2. Their spin structure, interactions and dynamics are more complex than those in chiral magnets. In particular, magnetic resonance in the skyrmion crystal should be accompanied by oscillations of the electric polarization with a frequency depending on the amplitude of the a.c. magnetic field. These results show that skyrmion materials with rich physical properties can be found among frustrated magnets. We formulate rules to help the search.

Abstract

Skyrmions—magnetic vortices with an additional twist—have only been observed in a small number of chiral magnets, all with specific non-centrosymmetric structure. Here, the authors suggest that skyrmions can be found in many frustrated magnets as long as they meet a specific set of criteria.