title: Large anisotropic deformation of skyrmions in strained crystal.
abstract: Mechanical control of magnetism is an important and promising approach in spintronics. To date, strain control has mostly been demonstrated in ferromagnetic structures by exploiting a change in magnetocrystalline anisotropy. It would be desirable to achieve large strain effects on magnetic nanostructures. Here, using in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate that anisotropic strain as small as 0.3% in a chiral magnet of FeGe induces very large deformations in magnetic skyrmions, as well as distortions of the skyrmion crystal lattice on the order of 20%. Skyrmions are stabilized by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, originating from a chiral crystal structure. Our results show that the change in the modulation of the strength of this interaction is amplified by two orders of magnitude with respect to changes in the crystal lattice due to an applied strain. Our findings may provide a mechanism to achieve strain control of topological magnetic structures based on the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.identifier: 0000000206395408
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: J
authors.identifier: 0000000299376686
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.affiliation: 1] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan [2] Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., Hatoyama 350-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanigaki
authors.affiliation: Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., Hatoyama 350-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shirai
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: 1] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan [2] Research and Development Headquarters, ROHM Co., Ltd, Kyoto 615-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan [2] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: 1] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan [2] Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shindo
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan [2] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nagaosa
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan [2] RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokura