Band filling effects on the emergence of magnetic skyrmions: Pd/Fe and Pd/Co bilayers on Ir(111)

TL;DR

This study investigates how band filling influences magnetic properties in Pd/Fe and Pd/Co bilayers on Ir(111), revealing key factors for skyrmion formation and magnetic behavior differences.

Contribution

It provides a detailed ab-initio analysis of exchange interactions and DMI, explaining the origin of noncollinearity and skyrmion emergence in these bilayer systems.

Findings

Pd/Fe exhibits noncollinear spin textures due to magnetic frustrations and in-plane DMI.

Pd/Co has significant DMI but remains ferromagnetic without skyrmions.

Tuning magnetic parameters can induce skyrmionic phases in Pd/Co/Ir(111).

Abstract

Structurally similar transition metal systems can have widely differing magnetic properties. A prime example of this is found for bilayers on Ir(111), where Pd/Fe/Ir(111) ground state has a well-established noncollinear spin texture, while Pd/Co/Ir(111) present a ferromagnetic (FM) single-domain. To unravel the origins of these different magnetic behaviors, an investigation of Pd/Fe and Pd/Co bilayers on Ir(111), is here performed. Based on the obtained \textit{ab-initio} electronic structure, exchange coupling parameters ($J_{ij}$) and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI), we demonstrate that, although in Pd/Co/Ir(111) the DMI is significant, two ingredients play a key role on the origin of noncollinearity in Pd/Fe/Ir(111): the presence of magnetic frustrations and a much more in-plane DMI, both with a long-range influence. The $J_{ij}$ and DMI behaviors in both systems can be explained in terms of a simple rigid-band-like model. Also, by performing spin-dynamics simulations with the magnetic parameters tuned from the Pd/Co/Ir(111) to Pd/Fe/Ir(111) \textit{ab-initio} values, we could find conditions for the emergence of skyrmionic phases in the originally FM Pd/Co/Ir(111).