Geometry-induced spin chirality in a non-chiral ferromagnet at zero field
Spin chirality is a fundamental property that manifests non-reciprocal transport-magnetochiral anisotropy (MChA). However, the application of MChA in technology is constrained by the necessity for an external magnetic field, complex non-centrosymmetric crystal synthesis and cryogenic environments. Here we overcome these challenges by imprinting geometric chirality onto a nickel tube via three-dimensional nanoengineering. We use two-photon lithography to create a structurally twisted polymeric template with micrometre-sized pitch and diameters and cover it with a uniform 30-nm-thick nickel shell. The nickel tube exhibits spontaneous MChA-non-reciprocal transport at zero magnetic field and room temperature. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy confirms helical spin textures stabilized by the torsion- and curvature-engineered shape anisotropy, while inelastic light scattering spectroscopy demonstrates robust non-reciprocal magnon transport at remanence, reconfigurable via magnetic field history. The chiral parameter in our device surpasses that of natural chiral magnets such as Cu<sub>2</sub>OSeO<sub>3</sub>. Analytical theory and micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the non-reciprocity is further enhanced by downscaling the feature sizes. Our results establish a scalable, geometry-driven nanotechnology that imprints spin chirality on non-chiral ferromagnets and may enable nanoscale integration of chirality-enhanced magnonics and spintronics for real-world use cases.
Authors
- Mingran Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0397-6629)
- Claire Donnelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9942-2419)
- Elina Zhakina
- Dirk Grundler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4966-9712)
- Huixin Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0057-2642)
- Sebastian Wintz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6138-8078)
- Markus Weigand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0325-2268)
- Axel J. M. Deenen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-5596)
- Pamela Morales‐Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8442-9570)
Institutions
- Hiroshima University (JP)
- TU Wien (AT)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (DE)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Nanotechnology
- Published
- 2025-12-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02055-3
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.74
Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie