Field induced chirality in the helix structure of Dy/Y multilayer films and experimental evidence for Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on the interfaces.

Polarized neutron scattering experiments have demonstrated that Dy/Y multilayer structures possess a coherent spin helix with a preferable chirality induced by the magnetic field. The average chirality, being proportional to the difference in the left- and right-handed helix population numbers, is measured as a polarization-dependent asymmetric part of the magnetic neutron scattering. The magnetic field applied in the plane of the sample upon cooling below T(N) is able to repopulate the otherwise equal population numbers for the left- and right-handed helixes. The experimental results strongly indicate that the chirality is caused by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction due to the lack of the symmetry inversion on the interfaces.