Extended elliptic skyrmion gratings in epitaxial MnSi thin films

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and analysis of elliptically distorted skyrmion strings in epitaxial MnSi thin films, highlighting the role of uniaxial anisotropy in stabilizing these structures and mapping their phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental and theoretical study of elliptic skyrmion strings in MnSi thin films, including phase diagram analysis and numerical modeling of competing chiral phases.

Findings

Elliptic skyrmion strings are stabilized by uniaxial anisotropy.

Phase transitions include cascades of first-order transitions.

Theoretical calculations confirm the existence of helicoids, elliptic skyrmions, and cone phases.

Abstract

A detailed investigation of the magnetization processes in epitaxial MnSi thin film reveals the existence of elliptically distorted skyrmion strings that lie in the plane of the film. We provide proof that the uniaxial anisotropy stabilizes this state over extended regions of the magnetic phase diagram. Theoretical analysis of an observed cascade of first-order phase transitions is based on rig- orous numerical calculations of competing chiral modulations, which shows the existence of helicoids, elliptic skyrmions, and cone phases.