Real-Space Observation of Short-Period Cubic Lattice of Skyrmions in MnGe.

Tanigaki, Toshiaki; Shibata, Kiyou; Kanazawa, Naoya; Yu, Xiuzhen; Onose, Yoshinori; Park, Hyun Soon; Shindo, Daisuke; Tokura, Yoshinori · Nano Lett · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Three-dimensional forms of skyrmion aggregate, such as a cubic lattice of skyrmions, are anticipated to exist, yet their direct observations remain elusive. Here, we report real-space observations of spin configurations of the skyrmion-antiskyrmion cubic-lattice in MnGe with a very short period (∼3 nm) and hence endowed with the largest skyrmion number density. The skyrmion lattices parallel to the {100} atomic lattices are directly observed using high-resolution Lorentz transmission electron microscopes, simultaneously with underlying atomic-lattice fringes.