Raman shifts in two-dimensional van der Waals magnets reveal magnetic texture evolution

Nano Letters (2024)

 

In this study, researchers explored the properties of 2-D van der Waals magnets, which have potential applications in quantum computing. Specifically, they looked at how the interaction between spins and phonons affects the behavior of the magnet.

Their focus was on a magnetic structure called skyrmion bubbles, which are stable, whirlpool-like patterns of spins in the 2D magnet. They saw that when these stable skyrmion bubbles formed in the 2-D magnet, there was a change in the Raman spectrum. The change was dependent on the strength of an external magnetic field. (This Raman shift was not observed when the 2-D magnet was in its regular ferromagnetic state.)

The team found that the observed Raman shift was linked to changes in the skyrmion bubbles induced by the magnetic field.

The paper’s authors are Zhengjie Huang, Arthur R. C. McCray, Yue Li, Darien J. Morrow, Eric K. Qian, Duck Young Chung, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Charudatta Phatak and Xuedan Ma, conducting work at Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University.