Low-energy magnon dynamics and magneto-optics of the skyrmionic Mott insulator Cu 2 OSeO 3
In this study, we present a comprehensive study of the low-energy optical magnetic response of the skyrmionic Mott insulator Cu 2 OSeO 3 via high resolution time-domain THz spectroscopy. In zero field, a new magnetic excitation ( f 0 = 2.03 THz ) which has not been predicted by spin-wave theory is observed and shown, with accompanying time-of-flight neutron scattering experiments, to be a zone folded magnon from the R to Γ points of the Brillouin zone. Highly sensitive polarimetry experiments performed in weak magnetic fields, μ 0 H < 200 mT , observe Faraday and Kerr rotations which are proportional to the sample magnetization, allowing for optical detection of the skyrmion phase and construction of a magnetic phase diagram. From these measurements, we extract a critical exponent of β = 0.35 ± 0.04 , in good agreement with the expected value for the 3D Heisenberg universality class of β = 0.367 . In large magnetic fields, μ 0 H > 5 T , we observe the magnetically active uniform mode of the ferrimagnetic field polarized phase whose dynamics as a function of field and temperature are studied. In addition to extracting a g eff = 2.08 ± 0.03 , we observe the uniform mode to decay through a non-Gilbert damping mechanism and to possess a finite spontaneous decay rate, Γ 0 ≈ 25 GHz , in the zero temperature limit. Finally, our observations are attributed to Dzyaloshinkii-Moriya interactions, which have been proposed to be exceptionally strong in Cu 2 OSeO 3 and are expected to impact the low-energy magnetic response of such chiral magnets.