Neutron scattering on bulk Skyrmion materials
Since the first identification of magnetic Skyrmions, i.e. topologically non trivial spin structures, by means of neutron scattering [1] and topological Hall-Effect measurements [2] in the bulk helimagnet MnSi a tremendous interest in these kind of magnetic objects has developed. Triggered by the great potential for the application of magnetic Skyrmions for data storage and spintronics [3-5] a lot of effort is put into the investigation of new materials, thin films and multilayer systems hosting skyrmions. In this talk I will discuss the fundamental aspects of neutron scattering and introduce the neutron scattering techniques used to identify the magnetic structure and dynamics of magnetic Skyrmions in bulk materials, i.e. neutron small angle scattering (SANS), neutron spin echo (NSE) and modulation of intensity with zero effort (MIEZE).
* work carried out in collaboration with A. Bauer, F. Haslbeck, S. Ernst, N. Martin, W. Häußler, S. Mühlbauer, A. Rosch, M. Garst, P. Böni and C. Pfleiderer
References
[1] S. Mühlbauer et al., Science 323, 915 (2009).
[2] A. Neubauer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 186602 (2009).
[3] F. Jonietz et al., Science 330, 1648 (2010).
[4] T. Schulz et al., Nature Phys. 8, 301 (2012).
[5] A. Fert et al., Nature Nano. 8, 152–156 (2013).
The slides of the lecture are available here.