Monte Carlo studies on shape deformation and stability of 3D skyrmions under mechanical stresses

Abstract

We study the stability/instability of skyrmions under mechanical stresses by Monte Carlo simulations in a 3D disk composed of tetrahedrons. Skyrmions emerge in chiral magnetic materials, such as FeGe and MnSi, under the competition of ferromagnetic interaction (FMI) and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and are stabilized by the external magnetic field. Recent experimental studies show that skyrmions are also stabilized/destabilized by uniaxial compressive stress perpendicular to or along the magnetic field direction. These phenomena are studied by using a 3D Finsler geometry (FG) model. In this 3D FG model, the DMI coefficient is automatically anisotropic by a geometrically implemented coupling of strains and electronic spins. We find that skyrmions are stabilized (destabilized) by extension (compression) stress along the direction of the applied magnetic field consistent with reported experimental data. This consistency implies that the 3D FG model successfully implements the magnetostrictive or magneto-elastic effect of external mechanical stresses on chiral magnetic orders, including the skyrmion configuration.