Abstract
We report a detailed small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study of the skyrmion lattice phase of MnSi under compressive and tensile strain. In particular, we demonstrate that tensile strain applied to the skyrmion lattice plane, perpendicular to the magnetic field, acts to destabilize the skyrmion lattice phase. This experiment was enabled by our development of a versatile strain cell, unique in its ability to select the application of either tensile or compressive strain in-situ by using two independent helium-actuated copper pressure transducers, whose design has been optimized for magnetic SANS on modulated long-period magnetic structures and vortex lattices, and is compact enough to fit in common sample environments such as cryostats and superconducting magnets.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 192409 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 110 |
Issue number | 19 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 8 2017 |
Funding
We thank Shizeng Lin, Cristian Batista, and Avadh Saxena for useful discussion, Rex Hjelm, Helmut M. Reiche, and Michael A. Torrez for support during the design of the strain cell, and Kathy Bailey, Doug Armitage, Erik Stringfellow, and Jon Smith for technical support during the experiments. The work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy. The research at LANL was funded by the LANL Directed Research and Development program. The research conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy.