Elastic stiffness of a skyrmion crystal

Y. Nii, A. Kikkawa, Y. Taguchi, Y. Tokura, Y. Iwasa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We observe the elastic stiffness and ultrasonic absorption of a Skyrmion crystal in the chiral-lattice magnet MnSi. The Skyrmion crystal lattice exhibits a stiffness 3 orders of magnitude smaller than that of the atomic lattice of MnSi, being as soft as the flux line lattice in type-II superconductors. The observed anisotropic elastic responses are consistent with the cylindrical shape of the Skyrmion spin texture. Phenomenological analysis reveals that the spin-orbit coupling is responsible for the emergence of anisotropic elasticity in the Skyrmion lattice.

Original languageEnglish
Article number267203
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume113
Issue number26
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Dec 30
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

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