Investigating the stability and energetics of the hidden low temperature skyrmion phase in Zn/Ni doped Cu2OSeO3

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin structures with potential uses in low power devices. Cu2OSeO3 is a cubic material containing both skyrmions and other spin textures in a rich magnetic-phase diagram arising from the competition of interactions. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) has frequently been used to study the skyrmion state and related magnetic spin textures. Recently, a low temperature (LT) skyrmion state and a tilted conical state have been observed in Cu2OSeO3 with fields along the [001] axes, which are suggested to be stabilised by cubic anisotropy. Here we propose to use SANS to study these phases in three samples of Cu2OSeO3: Pristine, nickel and zinc doped. We wish to investigate the effect of doping on the stability of this exciting new skyrmion phase, and to perform micromagnetic simulations to evaluate the proposed stabilisation mechanism.

磁性斯格明子（magnetic skyrmions）是受拓扑保护的自旋结构，在低功耗器件中具备潜在应用价值。Cu₂OSeO₃为立方晶系材料，其丰富的磁相图源于不同相互作用间的竞争，该材料中同时存在斯格明子与其他自旋纹理。小角中子散射（Small Angle Neutron Scattering, SANS）常被用于研究斯格明子态及相关磁自旋纹理。近期，科研人员在沿[001]晶轴施加外场的Cu₂OSeO₃样品中，观测到了低温（low temperature, LT）斯格明子态与倾斜锥形态，该类物相被认为可通过立方各向异性实现稳定。在此研究中，我们提议利用小角中子散射，对三种Cu₂OSeO₃样品（本征、镍掺杂与锌掺杂）中的上述磁相展开研究；我们旨在探究掺杂对这一极具研究价值的新型斯格明子相稳定性的影响，并通过微磁模拟评估所提出的稳定化机制。