We construct the general free energy governing long-wavelength magnetism in two-dimensional oxide heterostructures, which applies irrespective of the microscopic mechanism for magnetism. This leads, in the relevant regime of weak but non-negligible spin-orbit coupling, to a rich phase diagram containing in-plane ferromagnetic, spiral, cone, and skyrmion lattice phases, as well as a nematic state stabilized by thermal fluctuations. The general conclusions are vetted by a microscopic derivation for a simple model with Rashba spin-orbit coupling.
@article{arxiv.1308.4179,
title = {Spirals and skyrmions in two dimensional oxide heterostructures},
author = {Xiaopeng Li and W. Vincent Liu and Leon Balents},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1308.4179},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
4+2 pages, 5 figures, version as accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett