Effect of interlayer exchange coupling on magnetic chiral structures

We numerically investigated the effect of interlayer exchange coupling on magnetic chiral structures, such as a helical/cycloidal spin structure and magnetic skyrmion crystal (SkX), which are produced in a magnetic system involving the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). We report the existence of a phase transition where the length scale of magnetic structure discontinuously changes, and that there can be a novel magnetic structure around the phase boundary that exhibits double-ordering lengths of magnetic structure. Therefore, the system has multiple ground phases determined by the ratio of interlayer exchange coupling strength and DMI strength. Furthermore, we investigated the critical condition of the external perpendicular field required for the SkX. The critical field is significantly reduced under the effect of interlayer exchange coupling, which can stabilize the SkX without the external field.