TY - JOUR AU - Zheng, Fengshan AU - Rybakov, Filipp N. AU - Kiselev, Nikolai AU - Song, Dongsheng AU - Kovács, András AU - Du, Haifeng AU - Blügel, Stefan AU - Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E. TI - Magnetic skyrmion braids JO - Nature Communications VL - 12 IS - 1 SN - 2041-1723 CY - [London] PB - Nature Publishing Group UK M1 - FZJ-2021-03484 SP - 5316 PY - 2021 AB - Skyrmions are vortex-like spin textures that form strings in magnetic crystals. Due to the analogy to elastic strings, skyrmion strings are naturally expected to braid and form complex three-dimensional patterns, but this phenomenon has not been explored yet. We found that skyrmion strings can form braids in cubic crystals of chiral magnets. This finding is confirmed by direct observations of skyrmion braids in B20-type FeGe using transmission electron microscopy. The theoretical analysis predicts that the discovered phenomenon is general for a wide family of chiral magnets. These findings have important implications for skyrmionics and propose a solid-state framework for applications of the mathematical theory of braids. LB - PUB:(DE-HGF)16 C6 - 34493719 UR - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000694655700016 DO - DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-25389-7 UR - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/894925 ER -