Frustration Stabilized Skyrmions studied with X-ray Scattering and μSR*

Skyrmions are a topologically protected magnetic texture that attracts attention both for its interesting physics, and for potential spintronics applications. Central to the realization of applications is the requirement to have small skyrmions. Recently, skyrmions have been reported to exist in two new materials, Gd₂PdSi₃ [1] and Gd₃Ru₄Al₁₂ [2]. The skyrmions in these materials are reportedly extremely small (2.3 – 3 nm compared to 20 – 60 nm in other materials), and, in contrast to most known skyrmion materials, are thought to be stabilized by frustration, rather than by the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
In this talk, we will present measurements of resonant X-ray scattering on Gd₂PdSi₃ and muon spin rotation on Gd₂PdSi₃ and Gd₃Ru₄Al₁₂. These measurements reveal interesting new features about the magnetic structures in these materials, as well as the dynamics surrounding these magnetic states.

[1] T. Kurumaji et al. Science 365, 914 (2019).
[2] M. Hirschberger et al. arXiv:1812.02553 (2019).