Vortex domain walls in helical magnets. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We show that helical magnets exhibit a nontrivial type of domain wall consisting of a regular array of vortex lines, except for a few distinguished orientations. This result follows from topological consideration and is independent of the microscopic models. We used simple models to calculate the shape and energetics of vortex walls in centrosymmetric and noncentrosymmetric crystals. Vortices are strongly anisotropic, deviating from the conventional Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless form. The width of the domain walls depend only weakly on the magnetic anisotropy, in contrast to ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. We show that vortex walls can be driven by external currents and in multiferroics also by electric fields.

published proceedings

  • Phys Rev Lett

author list (cited authors)

  • Li, F., Nattermann, T., & Pokrovsky, V. L.

citation count

  • 38

complete list of authors

  • Li, Fuxiang||Nattermann, T||Pokrovsky, VL

publication date

  • March 2012