Discrete helicoidal states in chiral magnetic thin films

TL;DR

This paper reveals that in chiral magnetic thin films, the unwinding of helicoids occurs in discrete steps due to finite size effects, enabling control of individual turns for potential spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence and theoretical analysis of quantized helicoidal states in chiral magnetic thin films, highlighting finite size effects on their magnetic configurations.

Findings

Discrete unwinding steps observed in MnSi thin films

Finite size effects cause quantization of helicoid turns

Prototypical device demonstrates electrical readout of magnetic states

Abstract

Magnetometry and magnetoresistance measurements in MnSi thin films and rigorous analytical solutions of the micromagnetic equations show that the field-induced unwinding of confined helicoids occurs via discrete steps. A comparison between the magnetometry data and theoretical results shows that finite size effects confine the wavelength and lead to a quantization of the number of turns in the helicoid. We demonstrate a prototypical spintronic device where the magnetic field can push or pull individual turns into a magnetic spring that can be read by electrical means.