Single-ion anisotropy-stabilized short-period helimagnetism in frustrated chiral Co$_5$TeO$_8$

Abstract

Chiral spin textures in magnetic insulators promise magneto-electric (ME) spintronics with orders-of-magnitude lower power consumption than metallic systems. However, realizing the short magnetic periods required for high-density device integration remains difficult, as conventional Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI)-based mechanisms typically constrain spiral periods to tens of nanometers. While theory predicts that strong single-ion anisotropy (SIA) on frustrated lattices can stabilize complex non-coplanar textures, the potential for using this mechanism to engineer such compact textures remains largely unexplored. Here we report that a cubic chiral insulator Co$_5$TeO$_8$ provides an experimental example of this paradigm. Comprehensive neutron scattering and magnetometry reveal helimagnetic spirals with continuously tunable pitch of 5.7-10 nm embedded in a complex phase diagram spanning eight distinct phases. Capacitance anomalies throughout the phase diagram indicate magneto-electric coupling, pointing to the possibility of future $E$-field control of these textures. The temperature- and field-dependence of the helical wavevector strongly support a scenario in which site-dependent SIA provides the leading contribution to the selection of the helical period from a frustration-induced degenerate manifold. Consistent with this interpretation, $ab\,initio$ calculations place SIA approximately an order of magnitude above DMI, distinct from conventional helimagnets. Co$_5$TeO$_8$ thus offers an experimental realization of sub-10 nm helimagnetism and motivates a design principle for anisotropy-engineered correlated insulators.