Tensile deformations of the magnetic chiral soliton lattice probed by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy

TL;DR

This paper models and experimentally investigates how uniaxial strain affects the magnetic states of a chiral soliton lattice, revealing strain-dependent spin textures identifiable via Lorentz TEM, with implications for spintronics.

Contribution

It provides an analytical phase diagram for strained chiral soliton lattices and demonstrates experimental validation using Lorentz TEM on CrNb3S6, highlighting strain as a tool to control magnetic properties.

Findings

Strain induces three distinct non-trivial spin textures.

Experimental TEM contrast matches the model predictions.

Strain offers a new degree of freedom to tailor magnetic states.

Abstract

We consider the case of a chiral soliton lattice subjected to uniaxial elastic strain applied perpendicular to the chiral axis and derive through analytical modelling the phase diagram of magnetic states supported in the presence of an external magnetic field. The strain induced anisotropies give rise to three distinct non-trivial spin textures, depending on the nature of the strain, and we show how these states may be identified by their signatures in Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Experimental TEM measurements of the Fresnel contrast in a strained sample of the prototypical monoaxial chrial helimagnet CrNb$_3$S$_6$ are reported and compare well with the modelled contrast. Our results demonstrate an additional degree of freedom that may be used to tailor the magnetic properties of helimagnets for fundamental research and applications in the areas of spintronics and the emerging field of strain manipulated spintronics.