Observation of a new light-induced skyrmion phase in the Mott insulator Cu2OSeO3

• Main Authors: Sapozhnik, Alexey A, Truc, Benoit, Tengdin, Phoebe, Boström, Emil Viñas, Schönenberger, Thomas, Gargiulo, Simone, Madan, Ivan, LaGrange, Thomas, Magrez, Arnaud, Verdozzi, Claudio, Rubio, Angel, Rønnow, Henrik M, Carbone, Fabrizio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 15-12-2022
• Subjects: Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.07878

We report the discovery of a novel skyrmion phase in the multiferroic
insulator Cu2OSeO3 for magnetic fields below the equilibrium skyrmion pocket.
This phase can be accessed by exciting the sample out of equilibrium with
near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser pulses but can not be reached by any
conventional field cooling protocol. From the strong wavelength dependence of
the photocreation process and via spin dynamics simulations, we identify the
magnetoelastic effect as the most likely photocreation mechanism. This effect
results in a transient modification of the magnetic interaction extending the
equilibrium skyrmion pocket to lower magnetic fields. Once created, the
skyrmions rearrange and remain stable over a long time, reaching minutes. The
presented results are relevant for designing high-efficiency non-volatile data
storage based on magnetic skyrmions.