Skyrmions in square-lattice antiferromagnets

Rick Keesman, M. Raaijmakers, A. E. Baerends, G. T. Barkema, R. A. Duine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The ground states of square-lattice two-dimensional antiferromagnets with anisotropy in an external magnetic field are determined using Monte Carlo simulations and compared to theoretical analysis. We find a phase in between the spin-flop and spiral phase that shows strong similarity to skyrmions in ferromagnetic thin films. We show that this phase arises as a result of the competition between Zeeman and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction energies of the magnetic system. Moreover, we find that isolated (anti-)skyrmions are stabilized in finite-sized systems, even at higher temperatures. The existence of thermodynamically stable skyrmions in square-lattice antiferromagnets provides an appealing alternative over skyrmions in ferromagnets as data carriers.

Original languageEnglish
Article number054402
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume94
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2016

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