Skyrmion magnetic structure of an ordered FePt monolayer deposited on Pt(111)

The effect of the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction on the magnetic structure of an ordered FePt monolayer deposited on the Pt(111) surface has been investigated. In the ground state, the pronounced anisotropic geometry of the FePt layer with alternating Fe and Pt chains gives rise to a helimagnetic structure with a strong difference in the helicity period along the chains and perpendicular to them. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the region of stable Skyrmion magnetic structures in the B-T phase diagram has been demonstrated via Monte Carlo simulations using the parameters obtained within first-principles electronic structure calculations. The present study demonstrates clearly that the ratio of the exchange coupling parameters J/D for a deposited magnetic film—being of central importance for the formation of Skyrmions—can be manipulated by growing an overlayer of 2-dimensional compounds with the atoms carrying spontaneous magnetic moments separated by the atoms of nonmagnetic elements.