Indirect chiral magnetic exchange through Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya-enhanced RKKY interactions in manganese oxide chains on Ir(100)

Localized electron spins can couple magnetically via the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction even if their wave functions lack direct overlap. Theory predicts that spin–orbit scattering leads to a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya type enhancement of this indirect exchange interaction, giving rise to chir...

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Published in:Nature communications 2019-06, Vol.10 (1), p.2610-6, Article 2610
Main Authors: Schmitt, Martin, Moras, Paolo, Bihlmayer, Gustav, Cotsakis, Ryan, Vogt, Matthias, Kemmer, Jeannette, Belabbes, Abderrezak, Sheverdyaeva, Polina M., Kundu, Asish K., Carbone, Carlo, Blügel, Stefan, Bode, Matthias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
140/146
147/138
639/766/119/544
639/925/357/997
Antiferromagnetism
Chains
Coupling
Density functional theory
Electron spin
Exchanging
Humanities and Social Sciences
Manganese
Manganese dioxide
Manganese oxides
Microscopy
multidisciplinary
Periodicity
Photoelectric emission
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spin ice
Spirals
Substrates
Wave functions
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Summary:Localized electron spins can couple magnetically via the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction even if their wave functions lack direct overlap. Theory predicts that spin–orbit scattering leads to a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya type enhancement of this indirect exchange interaction, giving rise to chiral exchange terms. Here we present a combined spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoemission, and density functional theory study of MnO 2 chains on Ir(100). Whereas we find antiferromagnetic Mn–Mn coupling along the chain, the inter-chain coupling across the non-magnetic Ir substrate turns out to be chiral with a 120° rotation between adjacent MnO 2 chains. Calculations reveal that the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction results in spin spirals with a periodicity in agreement with experiment. Our findings confirm the existence of indirect chiral magnetic exchange, potentially giving rise to exotic phenomena, such as chiral spin-liquid states in spin ice systems or the emergence of new quasiparticles. Manganese oxide self-organizes on Ir(100) surfaces to form arrays of one-dimensional chains, providing a model system to study emergent magnetic behaviour. Schmitt et al. demonstrate they host chiral magnetism mediated by Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya-enhanced RKKY interactions.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-10515-3