Fig. 4: Real-space observations of helical stripes and SkL in a (001) thin-plate sample of Gd3Ru4Al12 using Lorentz-transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM).
From: Skyrmion phase and competing magnetic orders on a breathing kagomé lattice
We report data obtained from two different areas A, B of the same thin plate. The magnetic field was applied perpendicular to the sample plane. All data were recorded under field cooling (FC) conditions. a* and b* are crystalline axes in reciprocal space. Fast Fourier transform patterns in b, d correspond to real-space images (underfocused L-TEM images) shown in a and c, respectively. The defocusing length of the electron beam was ld = −3 μm (a, b) and ld = −193 nm (c–h). In (b), the scale of the data was magnified as compared to (d), cutting the featureless high-q regime for clarity. Red (yellow) circles in (b, d) mark intensity due to the crystal lattice (the magnetic order). Focusing on representative parts of the real space image (yellow dashed box), filtered images are shown as insets in (a, c) (same length scale as main panel). Helical stripes (T = 8 K, μ0Hint = 0.59 T, μ0H = 0.7 T) and SkL (T = 8 K, μ0Hint = 1.53 T, μ0H = 1.95 T) are visible in the data. e–h T-dependence of the fast Fourier transform patterns of the magnetic and lattice images at 1.53 T. The magnetic contrast of the SkL is suppressed above T = 17 K. See Methods for filtering procedure and other experimental details. Scale bars in panels (a, c) correspond to 10 nm.
