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.

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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

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article

Geometry-induced spin chirality in a non-chiral ferromagnet at zero field

Mingran Xu, Claire Donnelly, Elina Zhakina, Dirk Grundler et al.
3 citations
Nature Nanotechnology
Magnetic properties of thin films
3.74
article

Geometry-induced spin chirality in a non-chiral ferromagnet at zero field

Mingran Xu, Claire Donnelly, Elina Zhakina, Dirk Grundler, Huixin Guo, Sebastian Wintz, Markus Weigand, Axel J. M. Deenen, Pamela Morales‐Fernández
article en
3 citations

Abstract

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.

Nature NanotechnologyVol. 21(1)
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)
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Magnetic properties of thin films
3.74
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