Spin-wave stiffness in the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya helimagnets Mn 1 − x Fe x Si

International audienceThe small-angle neutron scattering is used to measure the spin-wave stiffness in the field-polarized state of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya helimagnets Mn1−xFexSi with x=0.03, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10. The Mn1−xFexSi compounds are helically ordered below Tc and show a helical fluctuation regime above Tc in a wide range up to TDM. The critical temperatures Tc and TDM decrease with x and tend to 0 at x=0.11 and 0.17, respectively. We have found that the spin-wave stiffness A change weakly with temperature for each individual Fe-doped compound. On the other hand, the spin-wave stiffness A decreases with x duplicating the TDM dependence on x, rather than Tc(x). These findings classify the thermal phase transition in all Mn1−xFexSi compounds as an abrupt change in the spin state caused, most probably, by the features of an electronic band structure. Moreover, the criticality in these compounds is not related to the value of the ferromagnetic interaction but demonstrates the remarkable role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as a factor destabilizing the magnetic order