Elusive Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in monolayer Fe3GeTe2

Abstract

Using symmetry analysis and density functional theory calculations, we uncover the nature of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ monolayer. We show that while such an interaction might result in small distortion of the magnetic texture on the short range, on the longrange Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction favors in-plane N\'eel spin-spirals along equivalent directions of the crystal structure. Whereas our results show that the observed N\'eel skyrmions cannot be explained by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at the monolayer level, they suggest that canted magnetic texture shall arise at the boundary of Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ nanoflakes or nanoribbons and, most interestingly, that homochiral planar magnetic textures could be stabilized.