Magnetic materials with noncollinear spin textures are
promising
for spintronic applications. To realize practical devices, control
over the length and energy scales of such spin textures is imperative.
The chiral helimagnets Cr1/3NbS2 and Cr1/3TaS2 exhibit analogous magnetic-phase diagrams
with different real-space periodicities and field dependence, positioning
them as model systems for studying the relative strengths of the microscopic
mechanisms giving rise to exotic spin textures. Although the electronic
structure of the Nb analogue has been experimentally investigated,
the Ta analogue has received far less attention. Here, we present
a comprehensive suite of electronic structure studies on both Cr1/3NbS2 and Cr1/3TaS2 using
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory.
We show that bands in Cr1/3TaS2 are more dispersive
than their counterparts in Cr1/3NbS2, resulting
in markedly different Fermi wavevectors. The fact that their qualitative
magnetic phase diagrams are nevertheless identical shows that hybridization
between the intercalant and host lattice mediates the magnetic exchange
interactions in both of these materials. We ultimately find that ferromagnetic
coupling is stronger in Cr1/3TaS2, but larger
spin–orbit coupling (and a stronger Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya
interaction) from the heavier host lattice ultimately gives rise to
shorter spin textures.