Non-Lifshitz invariants corrections to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction energy

Abstract

We study the continuum limit of two-dimensional chiral magnets in which Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is due to the interplay between a smooth magnetic texture and spin-orbit coupling. The resulting free-energy density of the system contains linear terms in the spatial gradient of the magnetic texture, which mark an instability of the system towards the formation of nontrivial magnetic orders such as skyrmions or chiral domain walls. We perform a microscopic analysis of DMI tensors responsible for this contribution to free energy based on a Berry phase formulation in the mixed space of momentum and position, and reveal that they exhibit non-Lifshitz invariants features. In particular, a perturbation theory shows in the case of Rashba spin-orbit interactions the presence of non-Lifshitz invariants to third order in the small spin-orbit interaction and fourth order in the small exchange coupling. The higher-order terms may even lead to an enhancement of DMI interaction at strong spin-orbit coupling due to divergences in the density of states at the bottom of the conduction band. Finally, we also study the DMI free energy generated from Rashba spin-orbit interaction in different symmetry groups.