Effect of In-Plane Magnetic Field on Skyrmions in a Centrosymmetric Triangular-Lattice System with Symmetric Anisotropic Exchange Interaction

We report our numerical results on the stability of the skyrmion crystal phase in an external magnetic field for both in-plane and out-of-plane directions in a centrosymmetric host. We analyze a spin model with the two-spin symmetric anisotropic exchange interaction that arises from relativistic spin–orbit coupling on a triangular lattice. By performing simulated annealing, we construct magnetic phase diagrams when the magnetic field is tilted from the out-of-plane field direction to the in-plane field direction. We find a different stability tendency of the skyrmion crystal phase according to the directions of the in-plane field, which provides a signal of the two-spin symmetric anisotropic exchange interaction for stabilizing the skyrmion crystal phase. Our results indicate that the mechanism of the skyrmion crystal phase triggered by the two-spin symmetric anisotropic exchange interaction can be experimentally tested by applying the in-plane magnetic field.