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Mode locking between helimagnetism and ferromagnetism

Nature Physics volume 22, pages 259–264 (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

Non-collinear spin textures, such as spin spirals and skyrmions, exhibit rich emergent physics in their spin dynamics. Nevertheless, the potential to utilize their distinctive spin resonance characteristics for on-chip microwave magnonic applications is rarely explored. Here we demonstrate microwave emission and mode coupling from the resonating spin spiral lattice in a Cu2OSeO3/Pt/NiFe heterostructure. We use time-resolved resonant elastic X-ray scattering to visualize the exact vectorial spin precession modes from the two magnetic species in real time. Our results show that the ferromagnetic NiFe layer dynamically captures the excitation modes of the conical order in helimagnet Cu2OSeO3. The off-resonance NiFe spin precession is phase locked to the helimagnet with a fixed offset, thereby presenting distinct chiral dynamics. This demonstrates that the magnons produced in the process—referred to as helimagnons—can wirelessly transmit spin information at gigahertz frequencies, opening new avenues for on-chip microwave magnonics.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of mode coupling between a helimagnet and a ferromagnet.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.
Fig. 2: Experimental setup and time-resolved measurement of the +Q mode.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.
Fig. 3: Temperature-dependent spin dynamics across the +Q resonance.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.
Fig. 4: Spin dynamics and phase locking for the −Q mode.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

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Data availability

All data required for assessing the conclusions are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18184389 (ref. 45). Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

The refinement algorithm for obtaining the resonating modes is available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant number 2022YFA1403602) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 12241406). H.J. acknowledges support from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2025M773358). J.C. acknowledges the Double First-Class Initiative Fund of ShanghaiTech University (2025X0201-904-01). Diamond Light Source is acknowledged for beamtime on beamline I10 under proposal MM36751.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jingyi Chen, Haonan Jin.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Jingyi Chen, Haonan Jin & Shilei Zhang

  2. ShanghaiTech Laboratory for Topological Physics, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Haonan Jin & Shilei Zhang

  3. Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Ethan L. Arnold & Thorsten Hesjedal

  4. Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK

    Ethan L. Arnold & Gerrit van der Laan

  5. Center for Transformative Science, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Shilei Zhang

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Contributions

S.Z. conceived of and supervised the project. J.C., H.J., E.L.A., G.v.d.L., T.H. and S.Z. performed the experiments and analysed the data. S.Z. wrote the paper with input from all authors. All authors discussed the results and contents of the paper.

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Correspondence to Shilei Zhang.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Experimental setup for the time-resolved REXS measurement.

A phase-modulated 500 MHz reference is delayed, frequency-multiplied, and delivered to the sample, while the scattered x-ray signal is detected with photodiode lock-in referencing.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Flow chart of the iterative model refinement algorithm.

The procedure starts from initial angles obtained from micromagnetic simulations and iteratively updates the four-angle model to minimize the residual between calculated and experimental profiles.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Micromagnetic simulation results of the ac-susceptibility amplitude ∣χ∣ as a function of normalized Hdc and normalized driving frequency ωrf for the hybrid heterostructure system.

∣χ∣ is separately calculated for Cu2OSeO3 in (a) and NiFe in (b), respectively. Both the +Q and −Q modes are imprinted onto the NiFe layer. The plots in the insets show line cuts through the +Q mode.

Source data

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Sections 1–7 and Figs. 1–14.

Supplementary Video 1 (download GIF )

Dynamical mode communication between the resonating conical spins and the pick-up NiFe spins.

Source data

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Chen, J., Jin, H., Arnold, E.L. et al. Mode locking between helimagnetism and ferromagnetism. Nat. Phys. 22, 259–264 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03148-5

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