Interplay between crystalline chirality and magnetic structure inMn1−xFexSi

Abstract

X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation and polarized neutron small-angle diffraction have been used to evaluate the absolute crystallographic structure and the spin helix chirality of ${\text{Mn}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\text{Fe}}_{x}\text{Si}$. Contrary to previous observations we show that left- and right-handed crystals can be found for MnSi and its iron substituted analogs. The structural chirality rigorously determines the magnetic chirality of these compounds: left-(right-)handed crystalline chirality establishes left (right) handedness of the magnetic helix.