Exotic Magnetic Orders and Dynamics in Chiral Magnets

Chirality, that is the property of any three-dimensional object that cannot be superimposed with its mirror reflection, is widespread in nature and plays an essential role in various interesting material functions. A well-known example is that the structural chirality of DNA participates in essential genetic functions. More interestingly, in some solid-state inorganic magnets, the structural chirality and magnetic chirality could occur simultaneously. This family of magnets are called 'chiral magnets' and they are very rare in nature.Exotic physical phenomena are bound to happen in chiral magnets where all of space inversion, mirror, and time reversal symmetries are broken, since broken symmetry often accompany new physical phenomena. For instance, chiral magnets exhibit various exotic magnetic structures including the chiral topological soliton lattice and Skyrmions. The exploration of chiral magnetism and topological spin states is at the forefront in magnetism research. Chiral magnets could also open up new material functions for future technology such as the spin current diodes which utilize the chiral magnetic features of chiral magnets. However, the broken inversion symmetry does not guarantee the emergence of chiral or topological spin states in chiral magnets. A central and open question for chiral magnets is how their magnetic structures and dynamics inherit chirality from their chiral lattice structure.Neutron scattering is an ideal probe for lattice structures, magnetic structures, and magnetic dynamics. Our group at NJIT study the chiral magnetism in chiral magnets utilizing neutron scattering and advanced crystal growth techniques. Our project focuses on the study of interplay between lattice chirality and various magnetic interactions in chiral magnets. Our proposed research will reveal the physical mechanism responsible for the exotic magnetic orders and dynamics in chiral magnets, offer an innovative approach to realize topological spin states in chiral magnets, and help to identify prospective quantum materials for novel computational techniques.