Onset of a skyrmion phase by chemical substitution in MnGe chiral magnet

Abstract

We study the evolution of the magnetic phase diagram of Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$Ge alloys with concentration $x$ ($0 \leq x \leq 0.3$) by small-angle neutron scattering. We unambiguously observe the absence of a skyrmion lattice (or A-phase) in bulk MnGe and its onset under a small Mn/Fe substitution. The A-phase is there endowed with an exceptional skyrmion density, and is stabilized within a very large temperature region and a field range which scales with the Fe concentration. Our findings highlight the possibility to fine-tune properties of skyrmion lattices by means of chemical doping.