Nematic and Smectic Stripe Phases and Stripe-SkX Transformations

Based on the findings of skyrmion nature of stripes and the metastability of a state of an arbitrary number of skyrmions, precisely controlled manipulation of stripes of skyrmion number 1 in pre-designed structures and mutual transformation between helical states and skyrmion crystals (SkXs) are demonstrated in chiral magnetic films. As a proof of the concept, we show how to use patterned magnetic fields and spin-transfer torques (STTs) to generate nematic and smectic stripe phases, as well as “UST” mosaic from three curved stripes. Cutting one stripe into many pieces and coalescing several skyrmions into one by various external fields are good ways to transform helical states and SkXs from each other. © 2022, Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.