Magnetic Weyl Semimetallic Phase in Thin Films of

X Liu, S Fang, Y Fu, W Ge, M Kareev, JW Kim, Y Choi… - Physical review …, 2021 - APS
X Liu, S Fang, Y Fu, W Ge, M Kareev, JW Kim, Y Choi, E Karapetrova, Q Zhang, L Gu…
Physical review letters, 2021APS
The interplay between electronic interactions and strong spin-orbit coupling is expected to
create a plethora of fascinating correlated topological states of quantum matter. Of particular
interest are magnetic Weyl semimetals originally proposed in the pyrochlore iridates, which
are only expected to reveal their topological nature in thin film form. To date, however, direct
experimental demonstrations of these exotic phases remain elusive, due to the lack of
usable single crystals and the insufficient quality of available films. Here, we report on the …
The interplay between electronic interactions and strong spin-orbit coupling is expected to create a plethora of fascinating correlated topological states of quantum matter. Of particular interest are magnetic Weyl semimetals originally proposed in the pyrochlore iridates, which are only expected to reveal their topological nature in thin film form. To date, however, direct experimental demonstrations of these exotic phases remain elusive, due to the lack of usable single crystals and the insufficient quality of available films. Here, we report on the discovery of signatures for the long-sought magnetic Weyl semimetallic phase in (111)-oriented high-quality epitaxial thin films. We observed an intrinsic anomalous Hall effect with colossal coercivity but vanishing net magnetization, which emerges right below the onset of a peculiar magnetic phase with all-in-all-out (AIAO) antiferromagnetic ordering. The anomalous Hall conductivity obtained experimentally is consistent with the theoretical prediction, likely arising from the nonzero Berry curvature emanated by Weyl node pairs near the Fermi level that act as sources and sinks of Berry flux, activated by broken cubic crystal symmetry at the top and bottom terminations of the thin film.
American Physical Society