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Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 13, 2027
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Abstract Rare-earth monopnictides are a family of materials simultaneously displaying complex magnetism, strong electronic correlation, and topological band structure. The recently discovered emergent arc-like surface states in these materials have been attributed to the multi-wave-vector antiferromagnetic order, yet the direct experimental evidence has been elusive. Here we report observation of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order with multiple modulations using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. Moreover, we discover a hidden spin-rotation transition of single-to-multiple modulations 2 K below the Néel temperature. The hidden transition coincides with the onset of the surface states splitting observed by our angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. Single modulation gives rise to a band inversion with induced topological surface states in a local momentum region while the full Brillouin zone carries trivial topological indices, and multiple modulation further splits the surface bands via non-collinear spin tilting, as revealed by our calculations. The direct evidence of the non-collinear spin order in NdSb not only clarifies the mechanism of the emergent topological surface states, but also opens up a new paradigm of control and manipulation of band topology with magnetism.more » « less
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Abstract Magnetic topological materials have recently emerged as a promising platform for studying quantum geometry by the nonlinear transport in thin film devices. In this work, an antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductor EuSc₂Te₄ as the first bulk crystal that exhibits quantum geometry‐driven nonlinear transport is reported. This material crystallizes into an orthorhombic lattice with AFM order below 5.2 K and a bandgap of less than 50 meV. The calculated band structure aligns with the angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy spectrum. The AFM order preserves combined space‐time inversion symmetry but breaks both spatial inversion and time‐reversal symmetry, leading to the nonlinear Hall effect (NLHE). Nonlinear Hall voltage measured in bulk crystals appears at zero field, peaks near the spin‐flop transition as the field increases, and then diminishes as the spin moments align into a ferromagnetic order. This field dependence, along with the scaling analysis of the nonlinear Hall conductivity, suggests that the NLHE of EuSc₂Te₄ involves contributions from quantum metric, in addition to extrinsic contributions, such as spin scattering and junction effects. Furthermore, this NLHE is found to have the functionality of broadband frequency mixing, indicating its potential applications in electronics. This work reveals a new avenue for studying magnetism‐induced nonlinear transport in magnetic materials.more » « less
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Abstract Dirac and Weyl semimetals are a central topic of contemporary condensed matter physics, and the discovery of new compounds with Dirac/Weyl electronic states is crucial to the advancement of topological materials and quantum technologies. Here we show a widely applicable strategy that uses high configuration entropy to engineer relativistic electronic states. We take theAMnSb2(A= Ba, Sr, Ca, Eu, and Yb) Dirac material family as an example and demonstrate that mixing of Ba, Sr, Ca, Eu and Yb at theAsite generates the compound (Ba0.38Sr0.14Ca0.16Eu0.16Yb0.16)MnSb2(denoted asA5MnSb2), giving access to a polar structure with a space group that is not present in any of the parent compounds.A5MnSb2is an entropy-stabilized phase that preserves its linear band dispersion despite considerable lattice disorder. Although bothA5MnSb2andAMnSb2have quasi-two-dimensional crystal structures, the two-dimensional Dirac states in the pristineAMnSb2evolve into a highly anisotropic quasi-three-dimensional Dirac state triggered by local structure distortions in the high-entropy phase, which is revealed by Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations measurements.more » « less
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Magnetic topological states refer to a class of exotic phases in magnetic materials with the non‐trivial topological property determined by magnetic spin configurations. An example of such states is the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state, which is a zero magnetic field manifestation of the quantum Hall effect. Current research in this direction focuses on QAH insulators with a thickness of less than 10 nm. Here, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is employed to synthesize magnetic TI trilayers with a thickness of up to ≈106 nm. It is found that these samples exhibit well‐quantized Hall resistance and vanishing longitudinal resistance at zero magnetic field. By varying the magnetic dopants, gate voltages, temperature, and external magnetic fields, the properties of these thick QAH insulators are examined and the robustness of the 3D QAH effect is demonstrated. The realization of the well‐quantized 3D QAH effect indicates that the nonchiral side surface states of the thick magnetic TI trilayers are gapped and thus do not affect the QAH quantization. The 3D QAH insulators of hundred‐nanometer thickness provide a promising platform for the exploration of fundamental physics, including axion physics and image magnetic monopole, and the advancement of electronic and spintronic devices to circumvent Moore's law.more » « less
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A quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulator is a topological phase in which the interior is insulating but electrical current flows along the edges of the sample in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, as dictated by the spontaneous magnetization orientation. Such a chiral edge current eliminates any backscattering, giving rise to quantized Hall resistance and zero longitudinal resistance. Here we fabricate mesoscopic QAH sandwich Hall bar devices and succeed in switching the edge current chirality through thermally assisted spin–orbit torque (SOT). The well-quantized QAH states before and after SOT switching with opposite edge current chiralities are demonstrated through four- and three-terminal measurements. We show that the SOT responsible for magnetization switching can be generated by both surface and bulk carriers. Our results further our understanding of the interplay between magnetism and topological states and usher in an easy and instantaneous method to manipulate the QAH state.more » « less
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An axion insulator is a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI), in which the bulk maintains the time-reversal symmetry or inversion symmetry but the surface states are gapped by surface magnetization. The axion insulator state has been observed in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown magnetically doped TI sandwiches and exfoliated intrinsic magnetic TI MnBi2Te4 flakes with an even number layer. All these samples have a thickness of ~ 10nm, near the 2D-to-3D boundary. The coupling between the top and bottom surface states in thin samples may hinder the observation of quantized topological magnetoelectric response. Here, we employMBE to synthesize magnetic TI sandwich heterostructures and find that the axion insulator state persists in a 3D sample with a thickness of ~ 106 nm. Our transport results show that the axion insulator state starts to emerge when the thickness of the middle undoped TI layer is greater than ~ 3 nm. The 3D hundred-nanometer-thick axion insulator provides a promising platform for the exploration of the topological magnetoelectric effect and other emergent magnetic topological states, such as the high-order TI phase.more » « less
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ABSTRACT Interface‐induced superconductivity has recently been achieved by stacking a magnetic topological insulator layer on an antiferromagnetic FeTe layer. However, the mechanism driving this emergent superconductivity remains unclear. Here, we employ molecular beam epitaxy to grow a 1T‐CrTe2layer, a 2D ferromagnet with a Curie temperature up to room temperature, on a FeTe layer. These 1T‐CrTe2/FeTe heterostructures show superconductivity with a critical temperature of ∼12 K. Through magnetic force microscopy measurements, we observe the Meissner effect on the surface of the 1T‐CrTe2layer. Our electrical transport measurements reveal that the 1T‐CrTe2/FeTe heterostructures exhibit nonreciprocal charge transport behavior, characterized by a large magneto‐chiral anisotropy coefficient. The enhanced nonreciprocal charge transport in 1T‐CrTe2/FeTe heterostructures provides a promising platform for exploring the magnetically controllable superconducting diode effect.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available March 1, 2027
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