# Anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in ultra-thin epitaxial Au/Co/W(110)

## TL;DR

This study measures the anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in Au/Co/W(110) thin films, revealing directional differences that could enable new skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

## Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of anisotropic DMI in a specific epitaxial thin film system and links crystal symmetry to DMI anisotropy.

## Key findings

- DMI strength is 2-3 times larger along bcc[−1 10] than [001]
- DMI anisotropy relates to crystal symmetry of the stack
- Potential to realize elliptical skyrmions in thin films

## Abstract

We have used Brillouin Light Scattering spectroscopy to independently determine the in-plane Magneto-Crystalline Anisotropy and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (DMI) in out-of-plane magnetized Au/Co/W(110). We found that the DMI strength is 2-3 times larger along the bcc$[\bar{1}10]$ than along the bcc$[001]$ direction. We use analytical considerations to illustrate the relationship between the crystal symmetry of the stack and the anisotropy of microscopic DMI. Such an anisotropic DMI is the first step to realize isolated elliptical skyrmions or anti-skyrmions in thin film systems with $C_{2v}$ symmetry.