Distinguished University Professor TOKURA Yoshinori’s Research Group Achieves World’s First Visualization of Skyrmion Strings 3D Shape
![](https://www.tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/setnws_202111111846383011574983_034847.png)
The research group to which Distinguished University Professor TOKURA Yoshinori belongs has succeeded in the direct visualization of the three-dimensional shape of skyrmion strings in a noncentrosymmetric magnet. The research result was published on Nature Materials online on 11 November 2021.
【Abstract】
Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable swirling spin textures that appear as particle-like objects in two-dimensional (2D) systems. Here, utilizing scalar magnetic X-ray tomography under applied magnetic fields, we report the direct visualization of the three-dimensional (3D) shape of individual skyrmion strings in the room-temperature skyrmion-hosting non-centrosymmetric compound Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn. Through the tomographic reconstruction of the 3D distribution of the [001] magnetization component on the basis of transmission images taken at various angles, we identify a skyrmion string running through the entire thickness of the sample, as well as various defect structures, such as the interrupted and Y-shaped strings. The observed point defect may represent the Bloch point serving as an emergent magnetic monopole, as proposed theoretically. Our tomographic approach with a tunable magnetic field paves the way for direct visualization of the structural dynamics of individual skyrmion strings in 3D space, which will contribute to a better understanding of the creation, annihilation and transfer of these topological objects.
The paper is available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-021-01141-w and for more information, please refer to press release news (in Japanese).