A surface-confined spiral state with the double period in the cubic chiral helimagnet Cu2OSeO3

IF 6.6 1区物理与天体物理 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

npj Quantum Materials Pub Date : 2026-05-21 DOI:10.1038/s41535-026-00892-6

Priya R. Baral, Oleg I. Utesov, Samuel H. Moody, Matthew T. Littlehales, Pierluigi Gargiani, Manuel Valvidares, Robert Cubitt, Nina-Juliane Steinke, Chen Luo, Florin Radu, Arnaud Magrez, Jonathan S. White, Victor Ukleev

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Abstract

The chiral magnetoelectric insulator Cu2OSeO3 hosts a rich and anisotropic magnetic phase diagram that includes helical, conical, field-polarised, tilted conical, and skyrmion lattice phases. Using resonant elastic x-ray scattering (REXS), we uncover a new spiral state confined to the surface of Cu2OSeO3. This surface-confined spiral state (SSS) displays a real-space pitch of ~ 120 nm, which remarkably is twice the length of the incommensurate structures observed to-date in Cu2OSeO3. The SSS phase emerges at temperatures below 30 K when the magnetic field is applied between 3∘ to 18∘ away from the 〈110〉 crystallographic axes. Its surface localisation is demonstrated through a combination of REXS in reflection and transmission geometries, with complementary small-angle neutron scattering measurements suggesting its absence from the bulk. We attribute the stabilisation of the SSS to competing anisotropic interactions at the crystal surface. The discovery of a robust, surface-confined spiral paves the way for engineering energy-efficient, nanoscale spin-texture platforms for next-generation devices.

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Cu2OSeO3三次手性螺旋像中具有双周期的表面约束螺旋态

手性磁电绝缘体Cu2OSeO3具有丰富的各向异性磁相图，包括螺旋相、圆锥相、场极化相、倾斜圆锥相和skyrion晶格相。利用共振弹性x射线散射（REXS）揭示了Cu2OSeO3表面的一个新的螺旋态。这种表面受限螺旋态（SSS）显示出约120 nm的实空间间距，这是迄今为止在Cu2OSeO3中观察到的不对称结构长度的两倍。在距离< 110 >晶体轴3到18°范围内施加磁场时，温度低于30 K时出现SSS相。它的表面定位是通过反射和透射几何形状的REXS组合来证明的，互补的小角中子散射测量表明它不在体中。我们将SSS的稳定性归因于晶体表面的各向异性相互作用。这种坚固的、表面受限的螺旋结构的发现，为下一代设备的工程节能、纳米级自旋纹理平台铺平了道路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

npj Quantum Materials Materials Science-Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

3.50%

发文量

107

审稿时长

6 weeks

期刊介绍： npj Quantum Materials is an open access journal that publishes works that significantly advance the understanding of quantum materials, including their fundamental properties, fabrication and applications.