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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 50: Poster II
MA 50.10: Poster
Friday, March 15, 2013, 10:30–13:30, Poster D
Conical Spin-Spiral State in an Ultrathin Film — •N. Romming1, Y. Yoshida1, S. Schröder2, P. Ferriani2, D. Serrate1, A. Kubetzka1, K. von Bergmann1, S. Heinze2, and R. Wiesendanger1 — 1Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 11, D-20355 Hamburg, Germany — 2Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, D-24098 Kiel, Germany
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 tunnelling 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 spiralling along the [001] direction is due to frustrated Heisenberg exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. In addition, we show how the spin spiral's cone angle can be determined experimentally and how this sample can be used as a reference system to fully characterize the spin direction of SP-STM tips.