Modulating Nanometric Spin Spiral States via Spontaneous Lattice Distortion in a Short Period Helimagnet MnCoSi
We report the influence of spontaneous lattice distortion on the helical spin spiral states in centrosymmetric helimagnet MnCoSi. With the help of in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we observed significant distortion─up to 57%─in the helical spin order of MnCoSi thin lamella samples. Our analysis, integrating density functional theory calculations with micromagnetic simulations, confirmed that the spontaneous lattice distortion is induced by the variation in the specimen thickness, which therefore modulates the nearest-neighbor exchange interaction <i>J</i><sub>1</sub> and the next-nearest-neighbor exchange interaction <i>J</i><sub>2</sub>, leading to a change in the spin rotational periodicity. Notably, such a spontaneous lattice distortion can also reduce the critical temperature of the magnetic transition from helix to cycloid. Our findings introduce an additional degree of freedom to effectively tailor the magnetic properties of helimagnets, thereby expanding the possibilities within the emerging field of strain-manipulated spintronics.
Authors
- Xuekui Xi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-9552)
- Houbing Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8006-3495)
- Wenhong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0641-3792)
- Yuan Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0514-9595)
- Yong‐Chang Lau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6057-4733)
- Hang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9179-3741)
- Yurong You (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2334-8769)
- Shouzhe Dong
- Bei Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9280-5494)
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- South China Normal University (CN)
- Tiangong University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Division of Materials Science and Engineering (AU)
- Advanced Research Institute (US)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Nano
- Published
- 2025-03-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c18592
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.74
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation
- National Key Research and Development Program of China