Emergent skyrmion-based chiral order in zero-field Heisenberg antiferromagnets on the breathing kagome lattice

Abstract

We show that classical Heisenberg antiferromagnets on the breathing kagome lattice can be a platform to realize a zero-field topological order of the scalar spin chirality which can be viewed as a miniature skyrmion crystal (SkX) of discrete form with a small number of spins in its magnetic unit cell. In the model, a third nearest-neighbor (NN) antiferromagnetic interaction along the bond direction ${J}_{3}$ and the breathing bond alternation characterized by the ratio of the NN interaction for large triangles to that for small ones, ${J}_{1}^{\ensuremath{'}}/{J}_{1}$, are essential. It is found by means of Monte Carlo simulations that a commensurate triple-$\mathbf{Q}$ state appearing for relatively strong ${J}_{3}$ at zero field is the noncoplanar state with the SkX structure in the breathing case of ${J}_{1}^{\ensuremath{'}}/{J}_{1}\ensuremath{\ne}1$, while in the uniform case of ${J}_{1}^{\ensuremath{'}}/{J}_{1}=1$, it is a collinear state favored by thermal fluctuations. The origin of this chiral order and experimental implications of our result are also discussed.