Skyrmion deformation in strained crystals

Large anisotropic deformation of skyrmions in strained crystal.

K. Shibata, J. Iwasaki, N. Kanazawa, S. Aizawa, T. Tanigaki, M. Shirai, T. Nakajima, M. Kubota, M. Kawasaki, H. S. Park, D. Shindo, N. Nagaosa & Y. Tokura

Nature Nanotechnology 10, 589 (2015)

Evaluation of SkX deformation in reciprocal space. a,b, FFT patterns of the over-focused Lorentz TEM images in Fig. 1c (at 260 K) and
Fig. 1d (94 K). c,d, FFT patterns of simulated SkX spin configurations under isotropic and anisotropic DMIs, respectively. Fitting ellipses of the six spots corresponding to magnetic modulation vectors are denoted by dashed curves in a–d. e, SkX deformation parameters a (long axis of the fitting ellipse), b (short axis) and f = 1 − b/a as functions of temperature T (upper abscissa) and estimated strain ε (lower abscissa). f, SkX deformation parameters a, b and f in simulated SkX spin configurations as a function of the degree of introduced DMI anisotropy η = 1 − Dx/Dy.