New Boundary-Driven Twist States in Systems with Broken Spatial Inversion Symmetry

Kjetil M. D. Hals and Karin Everschor-Sitte
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 127203 – Published 22 September 2017
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Abstract

A full description of a magnetic sample includes a correct treatment of the boundary conditions (BCs). This is in particular important in thin film systems, where even bulk properties might be modified by the properties of the boundary of the sample. We study generic ferromagnets with broken spatial inversion symmetry and derive the general micromagnetic BCs of a system with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). We demonstrate that the BCs require the full tensorial structure of the third-rank DMI tensor and not just the antisymmetric part, which is usually taken into account. Specifically, we study systems with Cv symmetry and explore the consequences of the DMI. Interestingly, we find that the DMI already in the simplest case of a ferromagnetic thin film leads to a purely boundary-driven magnetic twist state at the edges of the sample. The twist state represents a new type of DMI-induced spin structure, which is completely independent of the internal DMI field. We estimate the size of the texture-induced magnetoresistance effect being in the range of that of domain walls.

  • Figure
  • Received 27 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.127203

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Kjetil M. D. Hals1,2 and Karin Everschor-Sitte1

  • 1Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
  • 2Faculty of Engineering and Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, No-6803 Førde, Norway

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 12 — 22 September 2017

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