Local Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interactions Driving Quasi-2D Magnetism in a Centrosymmetric Nanoskyrmion Material

Abstract

The unabating discovery of nanoskyrmions in centrosymmetric magnets challenges the conventional Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) skyrmion stabilization mechanism. We investigate Gd2PdSi3 using polarized resonant x-ray scattering and find that the low-field incommensurate modulations are elliptical helices, evolving into spin-density waves at higher fields. Quasi-2D magnetism arises via local DM interactions generated by inversion symmetry breaking around Gd-Gd bonds, which we characterize using atomistic simulations. Our findings suggest a prominent "hidden"role of DM interactions even in centrosymmetric skyrmionic hosts.