# Temperature-induced increase of spin spiral periods

## TL;DR

This study shows that the period of spin spirals in Fe films on Ir(111) increases significantly with temperature, from 4nm at 8K to 65nm at room temperature, due to layer-dependent exchange interactions.

## Contribution

It introduces a classical spin model explaining temperature-dependent spin spiral periods by layer-specific exchange interactions in magnetic multilayers.

## Key findings

- Spin spiral periods increase with temperature.
- Layer-dependent exchange interactions influence magnetic length scales.
- The proposed model reproduces experimental temperature effects.

## Abstract

Spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy investigations reveal a significant increase of the magnetic period of spin spirals in three-atomic-layer-thick Fe films on Ir(111), from about 4nm at 8K to about 65nm at room temperature. We attribute this considerable influence of temperature on the magnetic length scale of noncollinear spin states to different exchange interaction coefficients in the different Fe layers. We thus propose a classical spin model which reproduces the experimental observations and in which the crucial feature is the presence of magnetically coupled atomic layers with different interaction strengths. This model might also apply for many other systems, especially magnetic multilayers.