Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 28: Correlated Electrons: Spin Systems, Itinerant Magnets 3
TT 28.9: Talk
Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 11:45–12:00, H19
Thermodynamic signatures of the skyrmion lattice phase in MnSi and Mn1−xFexSi — •Andreas Bauer and Christian Pfleiderer — Physik Department E21, Technische Universität München, D-85747 Garching, Germany
The recent discovery of skyrmion lattices in cubic helimagnets like MnSi, Fe1−xCoxSi, and Cu2OSeO3 lead to a large number of studies in this class of compounds. We report detailed measurements of the specific heat across the magnetic phase diagram of single-crystal MnSi and Mn1−xFexSi. Our data is fully consistent with earlier reports, e.g., in Ref. [1,2], showing a narrow peak ontop of a broad shoulder at the helimagnetic phase transition. However, a quasi-adiabatic large heat pulse technique enabled us to resolve distinct signatures of the skyrmion lattice phase for the first time. A peak upon entering the skyrmion lattice phase from low temperatures is observed in MnSi for all magnetic field directions studied as well as in Mn1−xFexSi up to x = 0.08. This peak is a key signature of the first order phase transition where the topological winding number of the magnetic structure jumps from 0 to -1.
[1] S. M. Stishov et al., PRL 105, 236403 (2010)
A. Bauer et al., PRB 82, 064404 (2010)