Competing collinear and non-collinear spin textures imaged by spatially-resolved REXS in Eu(Al0.4Ga0.6)4

Abstract

Here, we use resonant elastic x-ray scattering (REXS) to investigate the inhomogeneity of the zero-field magnetic spin texture of Eu(Al$_{0.4}$Ga$_{0.6}$)$_4$. By using spatially-resolved REXS, we show that the two magnetic transitions at T$_{N1}$ = 17 K and T$_{N2}$ = 14 K originate from two nearly degenerate, yet distinct, orthogonal pairs of q-vectors. The corresponding phases are segregated spatially, such that one fraction of the sample comprises coexisting orthogonal spin-density-wave domains, while another fraction hosts coexisting orthogonal helical domains. Additionally, the helical state forms inversion domains indicating that the inversion symmetry is not broken prior the magnetic transition. Our results suggest that the magnetic state is single-q and revealed a large variation of spin textures across a 0.8 - 1 mm area of the sample surface. These results demonstrate clear differences between the locally and globally probed magnetic textures, typically assumed to be representative of the system as a whole, highlighting the importance of spatially-resolved probes for accurately describing the magnetic behavior of this class of materials.