title: Conical spin-spiral state in an ultrathin film driven by higher-order spin interactions.
abstract: We report a transverse conical spin spiral as the magnetic ground state of a double-layer Mn on a W(110) surface. Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, we find a long-range modulation along the [001] direction with a periodicity of 2.4 nm coexisting with a local row-wise antiferromagnetic contrast. First-principles calculations reveal a transverse conical spin-spiral ground state of this system which explains the observed magnetic contrast. The canting of the spins is induced by higher-order exchange interactions, while the spiraling along the [001] direction is due to frustrated Heisenberg exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferriani
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serrate
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kubetzka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Bergmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heinze
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wiesendanger