Controllable inter-skyrmion attractions and resulting skyrmion-lattice structures in two-dimensional chiral magnets with in-plane anisotropy

TL;DR

This study reveals how in-plane anisotropies in 2D chiral magnets induce controllable anisotropic inter-skyrmion interactions, leading to novel skyrmion lattice structures and magnetic domain formations that can be tuned by external magnetic fields.

Contribution

It demonstrates the controllable anisotropic inter-skyrmion attraction and resulting lattice structures in 2D chiral magnets with in-plane anisotropies, using simulations and theoretical analysis.

Findings

Inter-skyrmion interaction becomes anisotropic due to shape deformation.

Magnetic domains form between skyrmions when magneto-crystalline anisotropy is comparable to Zeeman energy.

Elongated triangular skyrmion lattice structures are stabilized by anisotropic interactions.

Abstract

We study inter-skyrmion interactions and stable spin configurations in a 2D chiral magnet with in-plane anisotropies of a tilted magnetic field and the magneto-crystalline anisotropy on a (011) thin film. We find that in both cases a small deformation of a skyrmion shape makes the inter-skyrmion interaction anisotropic, and that the skyrmions are weakly bounded along a certain direction due to an emergent attractive interaction. Furthermore, when the magneto-crystalline anisotropy is comparable to the Zeeman energy, skyrmions embedded in a uniform magnetization are tightly bound by creating a magnetic domain between them. The formation of the magnetic domain, and thus the strength of the inter-skyrmion interaction, can be controlled by the direction of an external magnetic field. The anisotropic interaction also affects the skyrmion alignment in the skyrmion crystal (SkX) phase. By employing the Monte Carlo simulation and the micromagnetic simulation, we obtain an elongated triangular lattice structure in the SkX phase. In particular, in the presence of a strong magneto-crystalline anisotropy, magnetic domains appear in the background of the lattice structure, and bimerons aligned on the domain walls form an elongated triangular lattice. We also find a parameter region that the SkX phase is stabilized due to the inter-skyrmion attraction.