Unlocking hidden potential in electron holography of non-collinear spin textures

Abstract

Due to their particle-like properties, three-dimensional (3D) spin textures have garnered significant interest, particularly for their potential applications in next-generation information storage devices. However, efficiently identifying these textures remains a major challenge, especially if they are of antiferromagnetic nature. Here, we demonstrate that instead of relying solely on the magnetic stray field, which vanishes in antiferromagnets, one can harvest the usually disregarded electronic signal. This gives rise to a electron holographic contribution probed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We reveal the underlying physics, systematically quantify, and offer disentangling strategies for both conventional and previously neglected identified TEM images, extracted from various magnetic structures, including ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic skyrmion tubes, as well as hopfions. Our findings mark a milestone in advancing the exploration and possible application of 3D spin textures in next-generation spintronic devices.