Spin Dynamics of the Centrosymmetric Skyrmion Material GdRu2Si2

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic interactions and structures of the centrosymmetric skyrmion material GdRu2Si2 using neutron diffraction, spectroscopy, and density-functional theory, revealing a better fit with a 2-q topological spin stripe model.

Contribution

It provides the first combined experimental and theoretical analysis of skyrmion textures in a centrosymmetric material, supporting the 2-q topological spin stripe as a more accurate model.

Findings

Spectroscopic features explained by density-functional theory calculations.

2-q topological spin stripe structure fits data better than 1-q helical model.

Magnetic structure evolution with temperature identified.

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmion crystals are traditionally associated with non-centrosymmetric crystal structures; however, it has been demonstrated that skyrmion crystals can be stabilized by competing interactions in centrosymmetric crystals. To understand and optimize the physical responses associated with topologically-nontrivial skyrmion textures, it is important to quantify their magnetic interactions by comparing theoretical predictions with spectroscopic data. Here, we present neutron diffraction and spectroscopy data on the centrosymmetric skyrmion material GdRu$_2$Si$_2$, and show that the key spectroscopic features can be explained by the magnetic interactions calculated using density-functional theory calculations. We further show that the recently-proposed 2-$\mathbf{q}$ "topological spin stripe" structure yields better agreement with our data than a 1-$\mathbf{q}$ helical structure, and identify how the magnetic structure evolves with temperature.