Symmetry Breaking In Spin Spirals And Skyrmions By In-Plane And Canted Magnetic Fields

The influence of in-plane and canted magnetic fields on spin spirals and skyrmions in atomic bilayer<br> islands of palladium and iron on an Ir(111) substrate is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy<br> at low temperatures. It is shown that the spin spiral propagation direction is determined by the island’s<br> border which can be explained by equilibrium state calculations on a triangular lattice.Wefind a<br> different response of spin spirals to in-plane magnetic fields for a propagation direction parallel to the<br> applied field as compared to perpendicular, which originates from their cycloidal nature. As a result,<br> the spin spiral propagation direction may be reorientated by in-plane fields. Furthermore, it is<br> demonstrated that also skyrmions are distorted in canted fields which allows to determine the sense of<br> magnetization rotation as enforced by the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction.