Mapping the magnon modes of topologically non-trivial spin textures in a heavy fermion material

Intriguing topologically non-trivial spin textures, such as skyrmions and merons, have significant potential for applications to spintronic and memory devices. However, this potential crucially relies on finding new materials that host such topological spin textures. A promising route is a new class of materials based on centrosymmetric crystal structures, where, so far, theory has been driving the investigation of the associated topologically non-trivial ground states. Skyrmion lattices have only been observed in a few bulk materials in this class, namely Gd₂PdSi₃, Gd₃Ru₄Al₁₂, GdRu₂Si₂, and EuAl₄. Although neutron scattering is generally the ideal probe to understand the interactions leading to topological spin textures, it is practically impossible in these existing materials owing to the large neutron absorption of Gd and Eu. I will present recent neutron spectroscopy on a newly discovered Ce-based heavy fermion material featuring three topologically non-trivial phases. This new material platform will allow us to achieve quantitative comparison between effective spin Hamiltonians for the stabilization of topologically non-trivial spin textures and the underlying spin excitations of a real material.