Room-temperature tetragonal non-collinear Heusler antiferromagnet Pt2MnGa

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 12671
• Main Authors: Singh, Sanjay, D’Souza, S. W., Nayak, J., Suard, E., Chapon, L., Senyshyn, A., Petricek, V., Skourski, Y., Nicklas, M., Felser, C., Chadov, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.08.2016; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 639/301/119/997; 639/766/119/1001; Anisotropy; Crystal structure; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Neutrons; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Symmetry; Temperature; Germany
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12671

Antiferromagnetic spintronics is a rapidly growing field, which actively introduces new principles of magnetic storage. Despite that, most applications have been suggested for collinear antiferromagnets. In this study, we consider an alternative mechanism based on long-range helical order, which allows for direct manipulation of the helicity vector. As the helicity of long-range homogeneous spirals is typically fixed by the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions, bi-stable spirals (left- and right-handed) are rare. Here, we report a non-collinear room-temperature antiferromagnet in the tetragonal Heusler group. Neutron diffraction reveals a long-period helix propagating along its tetragonal axis. Ab-initio analysis suggests its pure exchange origin and explains its helical character resulting from a large basal plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The actual energy barrier between the left- and right-handed spirals is relatively small and might be easily overcome by magnetic pulse, suggesting Pt 2 MnGa as a potential candidate for non-volatile magnetic memory. The control of different types of magnetic order is central to the study and development of spintronic devices. Here, the authors evidence an exchange-stabilized helix state with a low energy barrier for reversal in a room-temperature antiferromagnetic Heusler material.