Intrinsic stability of magnetic anti-skyrmions in the tetragonal inverse Heusler compound Mn 1.4 Pt 0.9 Pd 0.1 Sn

Magnetic anti-skyrmions are one of several chiral spin textures that are of great current interest both for their topological characteristics and potential spintronic applications. Anti-skyrmions were recently observed in the inverse tetragonal Heusler material Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn. Here we show, using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, that anti-skyrmions are found over a wide range of temperature and magnetic fields in wedged lamellae formed from single crystals of Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn for thicknesses ranging up to ~250 nm. The temperature-field stability window of the anti-skyrmions varies little with thickness. Using micromagnetic simulations we show that this intrinsic stability of anti-skyrmions can be accounted for by the symmetry of the crystal lattice which is imposed on that of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction. These distinctive behaviors of anti-skyrmions makes them particularly attractive for spintronic applications. Magnetic anti-skyrmions—chiral spin textures that could find applications in spintronics—have been recently observed in inverse tetragonal Heusler Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn. Here, the authors observe anti-skyrmions in thin films of Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn over a wide range of temperature and magnetic fields.