Stabilization of magnetic skyrmions by uniaxial tensile strain

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions with a topological particle nature have recently attracted attention as a potential information carrier for novel magnetic storage devices. For single-phase bulk crystals, skyrmions usually appear for a very narrow temperature region just below the magnetic ordering temperature ${T}_{c}$, and the stabilization of skyrmions for a wider temperature range remains an important challenge. Here, by investigating the impact of uniaxial tensile stress for a chiral magnet ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{OSeO}}_{3}$, we demonstrate that only less than 0.2% of uniaxial elongation can dramatically stabilize skyrmions for an entire temperature range from ${T}_{c}$ to the lowest temperature. The stability of skyrmions essentially depends on the geometrical relationship among the directions of strain, magnetic field, and crystallographic axes, which is consistently explained in terms of the anisotropic modulation of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Our finding may provide a good strategy for materials design to enhance the stability of skyrmions.