We demonstrate that topological-chiral magnetic interactions can play a key role for magnetic ground states in ultrathin films at surfaces. Based on density functional theory we show that significant chiral-chiral interactions occur in hexagonal Mn monolayers due to large topological orbital moments which interact with the emergent magnetic field. Due to the competition with higher-order exchange interactions superposition states of spin spirals such as the 2Q state or a distorted 3Q state arise. Simulations of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy images suggest that the distorted 3Q state could be the magnetic ground state of a Mn monolayer on Re(0001).
@article{arxiv.2106.08622,
title = {Topological-chiral magnetic interactions in ultrathin films at surfaces},
author = {Soumyajyoti Haldar and Sebastian Meyer and André Kubetzka and Stefan Heinze},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2106.08622},
year = {2021}
}