Intrinsic stability of magnetic anti-skyrmions in the tetragonal inverse Heusler compound Mn_1.4Pt_0.9Pd_0.1Sn

Magnetic anti-skyrmions [1] are one of several chiral spin textures that are of great current interest both for their topological characteristics and potential spintronic applications. Anti-skyrmions were recently observed in the inverse tetragonal Heusler material Mn_1.4Pt_0.9Pd_0.1Sn. Here we show, using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, that anti-skyrmions are found over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field in wedged lamellae formed from single crystals of Mn_1.4Pt_0.9Pd_0.1Sn for thicknesses ranging up to ~250 nm [2]. The temperature-field stability window of the anti-skyrmions varies little with thickness. Using micromagnetic simulations we show that this intrinsic stability of anti-skyrmions can be accounted for by the symmetry of the crystal lattice which is imposed on that of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction. These distinctive behaviors of anti-skyrmions makes them particularly attractive for spintronic applications.

[1] Nayak, A. K. et al. Magnetic antiskyrmions above room temperature in tetragonal Heusler materials. Nature 548, 561 (2017).
[2] R. Saha, A. K. Srivastava, T. Ma et al. Intrinsic stability of magnetic anti-skyrmions in the tetragonal inverse Heusler compound Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn. Nat. Commun. (accepted).