The bulk helimagnet Cu2OSeO3 represents a unique example in the family of B20 cubic helimagnets exhibiting a tilted spiral and skyrmion phase at low temperatures when the magnetic field is applied along the easy (001) crystallographic direction. Here we present a systematic study of the stability and ordering of these low-temperature magnetic states. We focus our attention on the temperature and field dependencies of the tilted spiral state that we observe persisting up to above T=35 K, i.e., up to higher temperatures than reported so far. We discuss these results in the frame of the phenomenological theory introduced by Dzyaloshinskii in an attempt to reach a quantitative description of the experimental findings. We find that the anisotropy constants, which are the drivers behind the observed behavior, exhibit a pronounced temperature dependence. This explains the differences in the behavior observed at high temperatures (above T=18 K), where the cubic anisotropy is weak, and at low temperatures (below T=18 K), where a strong cubic anisotropy induces an abrupt appearance of the tilted spirals out of the conical state and enhances the stability of skyrmions.

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Chemical synthesis of crystalline and nanoscale cobalt-iron metal boride powders was studied using hydrous metal chlorides and NaBH ₄. The effects of precursor concentration and optimized synthesis conditions on the phase formation, microstructure, and magnetic properties were investigated. After applying a reaction of CoCl ₂·6H ₂O-FeCl ₃·6H ₂O-NaBH ₄ at 850 °C, (CoFe)B ₂, (CoFe)B, Co ₂B, Fe ₃B, and Fe _0.71Co _0.29 boride phases were obtained from different synthesis conditions applied under autogenic pressure or Ar flow atmosphere. Oxychloride impurities were the reason for the reduced magnetization values. The highest saturation magnetization of 183 emu/g belongs to obtained nanoparticles containing (CoFe)B ₂ and (CoFe)B pure phases. High temperature magnetic measurements marked synthesized powders as soft magnetic materials up to 795 K while no T _c was reached for the obtained phases.

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Due to promising mechanical and chemical properties, transition metal borides have attracted attention, and numerous studies have investigated various combinations of transition elements in hopes of acquiring a final product with desired properties combined. In this study, novel low-temperature approach was adopted for the synthesis of cobalt-titanium-boron based crystalline powders. The method was based on the single-step direct reaction of CoCl _2(s), TiCl _4(l) and NaBH _4(s) in a sealed reactor under autogenic pressure. After the reaction of the precursors at 850 °C by using the molar ratios of metal chlorides to NaBH ₄ as 1:3, CoB and TiB ₂ phases were formed in-situ. The subsequent annealing process at 1100 °C achieved a full conversion of metal chlorides to CoB-TiB ₂ composite nanostructures. It was concluded that the binary forms of the borides tend to form as separate phases, which is illustrated in the SEM/EDS analyses with different morphologies. Amorphous boron layer surrounded TiB ₂ particles with an average particle size of 60 nm, whereas the CoB particles formed agglomerates with an average size of 450 nm. The use of synthesized composite powders as reinforcement in metal matrices resulted in enhanced hardness (506 HV) and compressive strength (1682 MPa) of the Ti6Al4V bulk samples.

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Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected nanoscale spin textures with particle-like properties. In bulk cubic helimagnets, they appear under applied magnetic fields and condense spontaneously into a lattice in a narrow region of the phase diagram just below the magnetic ordering temperature, the so-called A-phase. Theory, however, predicts skyrmions to be locally stable in a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures. Our neutron diffraction measurements reveal the formation of skyrmion states in large areas of the magnetic phase diagram, from the lowest temperatures up to the A-phase. We show that nascent and disappearing spiral states near critical lines catalyze topological charge changing processes, leading to the formation and destruction of skyrmionic states at low temperatures, which are thermodynamically stable or metastable depending on the orientation and strength of the magnetic field. Skyrmions are surprisingly resilient to high magnetic fields: the memory of skyrmion lattice states persists in the field polarized state, even when the skyrmion lattice signal has disappeared. These findings highlight the paramount role of magnetic anisotropies in stabilizing skyrmionic states and open up new routes for manipulating these quasi-particles towards energy-efficient spintronics applications.@en

A new approach for in-situ synthesis of crystalline Co–Fe–B nanoparticles was presented in which low temperature methods were developed by using metal chlorides and NaBH ₄ in an inorganic molten salt environment. Effects of different reaction systems/conditions on the phase formation, thermal behavior and microstructure were investigated. The melting point of reactants and impurities in final powders were reduced by the use of molten salt technique. After a reaction of CoCl ₂, FeCl ₃ and NaBH ₄ at 850 °C in sealed tubes, CoB and Fe ₃B phases formed separately. After a reaction under Ar flow; however, CoFeB ₂ solid solution nano powders were obtained in one step at 850 °C with an average size of 60 nm. After annealing at 1100 °C, stable and highly crystalline (CoFe)B ₂ solid solution phase with a Co:Fe molar ratio of 1:1 was achieved. As-synthesized particles exhibited ferromagnetic property, and possessed a narrow hysteresis curve characteristic of soft magnetic materials. Extended reaction temperature from 650 to 850 °C is seen to produce coercivity enhancement up to 500 Oe without significant reduction in saturation magnetization. On the other hand, after an annealing process and subsequent phase and chemical change, crystalline (CoFe)B ₂ particles exhibited superparamagnetic property.

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The lack of inversion symmetry in the crystal lattice of magnetic materials gives rise to complex noncollinear spin orders through interactions of a relativistic nature, resulting in interesting physical phenomena, such as emergent electromagnetism. Studies of cubic chiral magnets revealed a universal magnetic phase diagram composed of helical spiral, conical spiral, and skyrmion crystal phases. We report a remarkable deviation from this universal behavior. By combining neutron diffraction with magnetization measurements, we observe a new multidomain state in Cu₂OSeO₃. Just below the upper critical field at which the conical spiral state disappears, the spiral wave vector rotates away from the magnetic field direction. This transition gives rise to large magnetic fluctuations. We clarify the physical origin of the new state and discuss its multiferroic properties.

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