Topological metastability supported by thermal fluctuation upon formation of chiral soliton lattice in $$\hbox {CrNb}_3\hbox {S}_6$$

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Topological magnetic structure possesses topological stability characteristics that make it robust against disturbances which are a big advantage for data processing or storage devices of spintronics; nonetheless, such characteristics have been rarely clarified. This paper focused on the formation of chiral soliton lattice (CSL), a one-dimensional topological magnetic structure, and provides a discussion of its topological stability and influence of thermal fluctuation. Herein, CSL responses against change of temperature and applied magnetic field were investigated via small-angle resonant soft X-ray scattering in chromium niobium sulfide (<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$\hbox {CrNb}_3\hbox {S}_6$$</jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mtext>CrNb</mml:mtext> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mtext>S</mml:mtext> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math></jats:alternatives></jats:inline-formula>). CSL transformation relative to the applied magnetic field demonstrated a clear agreement with the theoretical prediction of the sine-Gordon model. Further, there were apparent differences in the process of chiral soliton creation and annihilation, discussed from the viewpoint of competing between thermal fluctuation and the topological metastability.</jats:p>