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The spin density distribution of itinerant electrons, neg, and their effect on pairwise correlations of localized spins S(t2g) of Mn4+ ions in cubic Sr1 − xLaxMnO3 antiferromagnet (x = 0.02, TN = 230 K, G type magnetic structure) is studied experimentally by nuclear magnetic resonance on 17O nuclei. The regions with neg > x, in which the local spin susceptibility of pairs of Mn atoms follows the dependence χ ∼ (T − Θ)−1 with Θ = 20(5) K, indicating the growth of ferromagnetic spin correlations of neighboring magnetic ions in these domains, are found in the paramagnetic phase. The fraction of Mn-O-Mn bonds (neg > x) increases with the decrease in the temperature. The interpenetrating meshes of Mn-O-Mn bonds with different densities of itinerant eg electrons form an antiferromagnetic metal phase below TN. The role of weak localization effects is discussed as the main origin of the magnetic inhomogeneity of the antiferromagnetic metal phase in Sr0.98La0.02MnO3.

Transverse magnetoresistance in p-type conductivity Si whiskers with different impurity concentration that correspond to the dielectric side of metal-insulator transition were studied in magnetic fields 0–8 T at low temperatures 1.6 to 50 K. The presence of negative magnetoresistance in Si whiskers with concentration 2 × 1018 cm−3 was observed and associated with weak localization. The obtained parameters of phase coherence length lφ and spin-orbit coherence length lso comprise approximately 45 nm and 750 nm, respectively, at 4.2 K. The parameters obtained for Si whisker indicate the presence of hopping conductivity, orders of magnitude stronger than the parameters obtained for Si whisker with variable-range conductance, which indicates substantial impact of Ni impurities on the whisker magnetoresistance.

We investigate the ion gel gating of wide bandgap oxide, La-doped SrSnO3 films grown using radical-based molecular beam epitaxy. An applied positive bias resulted in a reversible electrostatic control of sheet resistance over 3 orders of magnitude at low temperature driving sample from Mott variable range hopping to a weakly localized transport. Analysis of low temperature transport behavior revealed electron-electron interaction and weak localization effects to be the dominant scattering mechanisms. A large voltage window (-4 V ≤ Vg ≤ +4 V) was obtained for reversible electrostatic doping of SrSnO3 films showing robustness of stannate with regards to redox chemistry with electrolyte gating irrespective of the bias type.

We report the crystal growth as well as transport properties of Co added Bi2Se3 (Co0.1Bi2Se3) single crystals. The values of the lattice parameters for pure and Co added sample were nearly the same. The Raman spectroscopy displayed slightly higher Raman shift of corresponding A1g1, Eg2, and A1g2 vibrational modes for Co0.1Bi2Se3, and the resistivity curves with and without applied magnetic field show a metallic behavior. Both the crystals were subjected to magneto-resistance (MR) measurements under applied fields of 14 T. The value of MR is found to decrease from about 380% (5 K, 14 T) for Bi2Se3 to 200% for Co0.1Bi2Se3. To elaborate the transport properties of pure and Co added Bi2Se3 crystals, the magneto-conductivity is fitted to the HLN (Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka) equation, and it is found that the charge conduction is mainly dominated by surface-driven WAL (weak anti-localization) with negligible bulk WL (weak localization) contribution in both crystals alike. The MH curves of Co0.1Bi2Se3 crystal at different temperatures displayed a combination of both ferromagnetic and diamagnetic behavior. On the other hand, the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) revealed that pure Bi2Se3 is diamagnetic, whereas Co orders ferromagnetically with resonating field around 3422 Oe at room temperature. The calculated value of Lande “g” factor is around 2.04 ± 0.05. Summarily, the short letter discusses the interesting magneto-conductivity and complex magnetism of Co in Co0.1Bi2Se3.

Highly stable ultrathin films of large unsaturated room-temperature magnetoresistance (MR) are essential for the next-generation real-time magnetoelectric devices. A large-area, transfer-free, highly crystalline, and phase-engineered ultrathin film of Td-Mo0.27W0.71Te2.02 or 2H- & Td-Mo0.22W0.89Te1.89 on a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) substrate was synthesized using an atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) method. The Td-Mo0.27W0.71Te2.02 with average mobility of 725 cm2 V−1 s−1 possesses non-saturating MR of 18% at 5 K and 11% at room temperature. Quantum correction to the magnetotransport study suggests the existence of a weak anti-localization effect dominated by the electron–electron interaction to render the non-saturating linear MR in a wide temperature range. Moreover, the spin–orbit interaction in Td-Mo0.27W0.71Te2.02 was found valid till an applied field of 0.05 T with an interaction length of 18 nm at 300 K. In this alloy system, the weak localization effect was evidenced unprecedentedly by the Te-deficient 2H- & Td-Mo0.22W0.89Te1.89 thin film with unusual co-existence of two crystal phases, which exhibit a suppressed MR caused by the recurring inelastic scattering with a reduced phase coherence length. This work explores the production of phase-engineered large-area Weyl semi-metallic 2D materials for the realization of magnetoelectrics in the near future.

Topological insulator bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) thin films with a thickness of 6.0 quintuple layers (QL) to 23 QL are deposited using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The arithmetical mean deviation of the roughness (Ra) of these films is less than 0.5 nm, and the root square mean deviation of the roughness (Rq) of these films is less than 0.6 nm. Two-dimensional localization and weak antilocalization are observed in the Bi2Se3 thin films approaching 6.0 nm, and the origin of weak localization should be a 2D electron gas resulting from the split bulk state. Localization introduced by electron–electron interaction (EEI) is revealed by the temperature dependence of the conductivity. The enhanced contribution of three-dimensional EEI and electron–phonon interaction in the electron dephasing process is found by increasing the thickness. Considering the advantage of stoichiometric transfer in PLD, it is believed that the high quality Bi2Se3 thin films might provide more paths for doping and multilayered devices.

A combination of out-of-plane and in-plane magnetoconductance (MC) study in topological insulators (TI) is often used as an experimental technique to probe weak anti-localization (WAL) response of the topological surface states (TSSs). However, in addition to the above WAL response, weak localization (WL) contribution from conducting bulk states are also known to coexist and contribute to the overall MC; a study that has so far received limited attention. In this article, we accurately extract the above WL contribution by systematically analyzing the temperature and magnetic field dependency of conductivity in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films. For accurate analysis, we quantify the contribution of electron-electron interactions to the measured MC which is often ignored in recent WAL studies. Moreover, we show that the WAL effect arising from the TSSs with finite penetration depth, for out-of-plane and in-plane magnetic field can together explain the anisotropic magnetoconductance (AMC) and, thus, the investigated AMC study can serve as a useful technique to probe the parameters like phase coherence length and penetration depth that characterise the TSSs in 3D TIs. We also demonstrate that increase in bulk-disorder, achieved by growing the films on amorphous SiO$_2$ substrate rather than on crystalline Al$_2$O$_3$(0001), can lead to stronger decoupling between the top and bottom surface states of the film.

$\mathrm{Ca}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{4}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (CCRO) is considered a $d$-electron-based heavy-fermion metallic system with intriguing electronic properties. The magnetotransport measurements on metallic CCRO thin films reveal weak antilocalization (WAL) effects; however, it is not straightforward to infer whether the same originates from $e\text{\ensuremath{-}}e$ Coulomb interaction (EEI), spin-orbit interaction (SOI), or both present in CCRO. By evaluating quantum correction to sheet conductance for CCRO metallic thin films in the two-dimensional limit, it is observed that SOI gives rise to a dominant contribution to negative magnetoconductance (MC) in the weak-field regime. Based on weak localization (WL) and WAL analysis, SOI and inelastic scattering lengths (${l}_{so}$ and ${l}_{\ensuremath{\phi}}$) are obtained to be 30 and 74 nm, respectively, which indicates that WAL $({l}_{so}l{l}_{\ensuremath{\phi}})$ remains at play. The anisotropic effect of SOI is reflected in the field-direction-dependent in-plane and out-of-plane MC measurements. The presence of the EEI contribution is evidenced from (i) the linear increment (positive slope) of sheet conductance with $ln(T)$ in the quantum interference regime [only the WAL effect should otherwise show a negative slope with $ln(T)]$ and (ii) $ln(T)$ dependence of the Hall coefficient with a negative slope. Further, in the high-magnetic-field regime where WL or WAL is not valid, MC follows $ln(B)$-type behavior, indicating the presence of EEI. These findings have implications for the basic understanding of quantum magnetotransport properties in the presence of SOI and EEI in CCRO.

The electrical transport in the half-Heusler phases LuNiSb and YPdSb was measured in a temperature range 2--300 K. For both compounds, the electrical resistivity was found to decrease with increasing temperature, showing a linear-in-$T$ behavior over an extended temperature interval. In order to interpret the experimental data, a two-channel conductivity model was applied, which revealed that not only the semiconducting-like transport but also the metallic-like one exhibit negative temperature coefficients. The unusual behavior in the metallic channel was described within the Cote-Meisel formalism based on the diffraction model of strongly disordered metals. In addition, a weak localization scenario was considered including spin-orbit scattering and Coulomb interaction between conducting electrons. The electron-electron interaction was found most important at the lowest temperatures, where the semiconducting channel becomes ineffective, reminiscent of charge transport confined to a narrow yet finite-size metallic band located inside the semiconducting energy gap. The low-temperature resistivity of YPdSb appeared fully describable in terms of the Altshuler-Aronov quantum correction due to interacting electrons. In turn, the electronic transport in LuNiSb was found affected by the Kondo effect associated with a small amount of paramagnetic impurities present in the specimen investigated. The approach developed for LuNiSb and YPdSb can be applied to other half-Heusler compounds that exhibit atom disorder in their crystal structures.

Zr-Te compounds are an ideal platform to investigate novel electrical transport properties. Here we report the Kondo effect in single-crystalline ${\mathrm{ZrTe}}_{2}$. When $Tl8$ K, ${\mathrm{ZrTe}}_{2}$ exhibits a $\mathrm{log}T$ dependence of resistivity, which may derive from three different mechanisms, including electron-electron interaction, weak localization, and Kondo effect. By measuring transport properties with magnetic field along different directions, the former two mechanisms were excluded. Isotropic negative magnetoresistance was extracted by subtracting different quadratic background signals caused by Lorentz force, which reveals the existence of a weak Kondo effect in this material.

Van der Waals heterostructures composed of multiple few layer crystals allow the engineering of novel materials with predefined properties. As an example, coupling graphene weakly to materials with large spin–orbit coupling (SOC) allows to engineer a sizeable SOC in graphene via proximity effects. The strength of the proximity effect depends on the overlap of the atomic orbitals, therefore, changing the interlayer distance via hydrostatic pressure can be utilized to enhance the interlayer coupling between the layers. In this work, we report measurements on a graphene/WSe2 heterostructure exposed to increasing hydrostatic pressure. A clear transition from weak localization to weak antilocalization is visible as the pressure increases, demonstrating the increase of induced SOC in graphene.

We report the discovery of electric-field-induced transition from a topologically trivial to a topologically nontrivial band structure in an atomically sharp heterostructure of bilayer graphene (BLG) and single-layer WSe2 per the theoretical predictions of Gmitra and Fabian [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 146401 (2017)]. Through detailed studies of the quantum correction to the conductance in the BLG, we establish that the band-structure evolution arises from an interplay between proximity-induced strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and the layer polarizability in BLG. The low-energy carriers in the BLG experience an effective valley Zeeman SOI that is completely gate tunable to the extent that it can be switched on or off by applying a transverse displacement field or can be controllably transferred between the valence and the conduction band. We demonstrate that this results in the evolution from weak localization to weak antilocalization at a constant electronic density as the net displacement field is tuned from a positive to a negative value with a concomitant SOI-induced splitting of the low-energy bands of the BLG near the K (K') valley, which is a unique signature of the theoretically predicted spin-orbit valve effect. Our analysis shows that quantum correction to the Drude conductance in Dirac materials with strong induced SOI can only be explained satisfactorily by a theory that accounts for the SOI-induced spin splitting of the BLG low-energy bands. Our results demonstrate the potential for achieving highly tunable devices based on the valley Zeeman effect in dual-gated two-dimensional materials., 5 pages, 5 figures

Because of the one-dimensional confinement of electron momentum in narrow semiconductor wires, spin relaxation is suppressed irrespective of the presence of spin-orbit (SO) interaction. In quantum transport, weak localization corrections to conductivity are reflected as suppressed spin relaxation, which makes quantification of the SO strength difficult because quantum correction theory requires weak antilocalization when evaluating SO coefficients. Narrow wires with strong SO interaction are potential platform for Majorana particles and parafermions for topological electronics and quantum computation, so revealing the SO strength in semiconductor wire structures is beneficial. Herein, we present quantification of the full SO coefficient under weak localization in InGaAs-based narrow wires. Using anisotropic weak localization observed under an in-plane external magnetic field with various orientations, one can ascertain the relative ratio between Rashba ($\ensuremath{\alpha}$) and linear Dresselhaus (${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1}$) SO coefficients with no fitting. Furthermore, we find that widely tuning the potential profile of the quantum well through the top gate can expose a Rashba-predominant region in magnetoconductance, where the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ value can be extracted reliably from two-dimensional quantum correction theory. Finally, we quantify the full SO coefficients including Rashba, linear Dresselhaus, and cubic Dresselhaus terms in the wire.

We review recent theoretical and experimental progresses in the coherent multiple scattering of weakly interacting disordered Bose gases. These systems have allowed, in the recent years, a characterization of weak and strong localization phenomena in disorder at an unprecedented level of control. In this paper, we first discuss the main physical concepts and recent experimental achievements associated with a few emblematic “mesoscopic” effects in disorder like coherent backscattering, coherent forward scattering or mesoscopic echos, focusing on the context of out-of-equilibrium cold-atom setups. We then address the role of weak particle interactions and explain how, depending on their relative strength with respect to the disorder and on the time scales probed, they can give rise to a dephasing mechanism for weak localization, thermalize a non-equilibrium Bose gas or make it become a superfluid.

The weak intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in graphene can be greatly enhanced by proximity coupling. Here, we report on the proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling in graphene transferred by hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) onto the topological insulator Bi1.5 Sb0.5 Te1.7 Se1.3 (BSTS) which was grown on a hBN substrate by vapor solid synthesis. Phase coherent transport measurements, revealing weak localization, allow us to extract the carrier density-dependent phase coherence length lϕ. While lϕ increases with increasing carrier density in the hBN/graphene/hBN reference sample, it decreases in graphene/BSTS due to the proximity coupling of BSTS to graphene. The latter behavior results from D'yakonov-Perel'-type spin scattering in graphene with a large proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling strength of at least 2.5 meV., This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 785219 (Graphene Flagship), the Virtual Institute for Topological Insulators (Jülich-Aachen-Würzburg-Shanghai), and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through SPP 1666 (BE 2441/8-2). ICN2 is supported by the Severo Ochoa program from Spanish MINECO (Grant No. SEV-2013-0295) and funded by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. Growth of hexagonal boron nitride crystals was supported by the Elemental Strategy Initiative conducted by the MEXT, Japan and JSPS KAKENHI Grants No. JP26248061, No. JP15K21722, and No. JP25106006.

Despite the low energy topological surface bands attracting main interest gapped bulk bands of rhombohedral graphite are also peculiar. Here we report on three-dimensional transport properties bulk electrons in high quality thin film devices of rhombohedral graphite, a nodal line system in bulk limit. We show that bulk electrons show a thickness dependent cross-over from three dimensional weak anti-localization to weak localization as well as a quadratic negative magnetoresistance resembling chiral anomaly.

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) can provide essential tools to manipulate electron spins in two-dimensional materials like graphene, which is of great interest for both fundamental physics and spintronics application. In this paper, we report the low-field magnetotransport of in situ hydrogenated graphene where hydrogen atoms are attached to the graphene surface in continuous low temperature and vacuum environment. Transition from weak localization to weak antilocalization with increasing hydrogen adatom density is observed, indicating enhancing Bychkov-Rashba-type SOC in a mirror symmetry broken system. From the low-temperature saturation of phase breaking scattering rate, the existence of spin-flip scattering is identified, which corroborates the existence of magnetic moments in hydrogenated graphene.

Resistivity saturation in Ti-Al alloys has been studied by fitting empirical functions of temperature, T, to 20 sets of literature data. By replacing the commonly used temperature-independent saturation term by a term in T − 1 / 2 , to model weak localization effects at high temperature, the quality of the fits improved significantly and physically acceptable values were obtained for the fitted parameters. A linear correlation was found between the fitted high-T weak localization parameters and experimental data for the corresponding low-T weak localization conduction terms. No such correlation could be detected when using constant saturation terms. The results suggest that weak localization is a possible cause for resistivity saturation in Ti-Al alloys.

We consider the propagation of flexural waves across a nearly flat, thin membrane, whose stress-free state is curved. The stress-free configuration is specified by a quenched height field, whose Fourier components are drawn from a Gaussian distribution with power law variance. Gaussian curvature couples the in-plane stretching to out-of-plane bending. Integrating out the faster stretching modes yields a wave equation for undulations in the presence of an effective random potential, determined purely by geometry. We show that at long times/lengths, the undulation intensity obeys a diffusion equation. The diffusion coefficient is found to be frequency dependent and sensitive to the quenched height field distribution. Finally, we consider the effect of coherent backscattering corrections, yielding a weak localization correction that decreases the diffusion coefficient proportional to the logarithm of the system size, and induces a localization transition at large amplitude of the quenched height field. The localization transition is confirmed via a self-consistent extension to the strong disorder regime., 26 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables

The coherent backscattering enhancement in anisotropically scattering media is considered and analyzed within the small angle approximation of the radiative transfer theory. Asymptotic theory of the effect is revised and generalized. Effect of non-uniformity of the single backscattering cross section in rear hemisphere on the investigated phenomenon is estimated.

Understanding and tuning of metal–insulator transition (MIT) in oxide systems is an interesting and active research topics of condensed matter physics. We report thickness dependent MIT in Ga-doped ZnO (Ga:ZnO) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition technique. From the electrical transport measurements, we find that while the thinnest film (6 nm) exhibits a resistivity of 0.05 Ω cm, lying in the insulating regime, the thickest (51 nm) has resistivity of 6.6 × 10−4 Ω cm which shows metallic type of conduction. Our analysis reveals that the Mott’s variable range hopping model governs the insulating behavior in the 6 nm film whereas the 2D weak localization (WL) phenomena is appropriate to explain the electron transport in the thicker Ga:ZnO films. Magnetoresistance study further confirms the presence of strong localization in 6 nm film while WL is observed in 20 nm and above thicker films. From the density functional calculations, it is found that due to surface reconstruction and Ga doping, strong crystalline disorder sets in very thin films to introduce localized states and thereby, restricts the donor electron mobility.

The electrical and magnetotransport properties of nanocrystalline tin dioxide films were studied in the temperature range of 4&ndash, 300 K and in magnetic fields up to 8 T. SnO2&minus, &delta, films were fabricated by reactive direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering of a tin target with following 2 stage temperature annealing of synthesized samples. The nanocrystalline rutile structure of films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The temperature dependences of the resistance R(T) and the negative magnetoresistance (MR) were explained within the frame of a model, taking into account quantum corrections to the classical Drude conductivity. Extracted from the R(T) and R(B) dependences electron dephasing length values indicate the 3D character of the weak localization (WL) in our samples.

A non-Anderson weak localization of an electron beam scattered from disordered matter is considered with respect to the principle of electron indistinguishability. A weak localization of electrons of a new type is essentially associated with inelastic processing. The origin of inelasticity is not essential. We take into account the identity principle for electron beam and electrons of the atom of the scatterer with an open shell. In spite of isotropic scattering by each individual scatterer, the electron exchange contribution has a hidden parameters effect on the resulting angular dependence of the scattering cross-section. In this case, the electrons of the open shell of an atomic scatterer can be in the s-state, that is, the atomic shell remains spherically symmetric. The methods of an invariant time-dependent exchange perturbation theory and a Green functions with exchange were applied. An additional angular dependence of the scattering cross-section appears during the coherent scattering process. It is shown exactly for the helium scatterer that the role of exchange effects in the case of a singlet is negligible, while for the triplet state, it is decisive, especially for those values of the energy of incident electrons when de Broglie&rsquo, s waves are commensurate with the atomic.

We report electron transport studies in an encapsulated few-layer $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. The magnetoconductance reveals a temperature-induced crossover between weak antilocalization and weak localization in the quantum diffusive regime. We show that the crossover clearly manifests coexistence and competition among several characteristic lengths, including the dephasing length, the spin-flip length, and the mean free path. In addition, low-temperature conductance increases logarithmically with the increase of temperature indicating an interplay of electron-electron interaction (EEI) and spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We demonstrate the existence and quantify the strengths of EEI and SOC which are considered to be responsible for gap opening in the quantum spin Hall state in $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ at the monolayer limit.

Electron-electron interactions (EEIs) in 2D van der Waals (vdW) nanostructures is a topic of high current interest, with implications in both fundamental physics and nanoelectronics. In this Rapid Communication, we report the observation of a negative parabolic magnetoresistance (MR) in the multilayer 2D semiconductor InSe beyond the low-field weak localization/antilocalization regime, and provide evidence for the EEI origin of this MR behavior. Further, we analyze this negative parabolic MR and other observed quantum transport signatures of EEIs (temperature-dependent conductance and Hall coefficient) within the framework of Fermi-liquid theory and extract the gate voltage tunable Fermi-liquid parameter ${F}_{0}^{\ensuremath{\sigma}}$ which quantifies the electron spin-exchange interaction strength. This work opens up different directions for investigations of EEI effects in the electron transport of 2D vdW nanostructures.

In this paper we study a hysteric phase transition from weak localization phase to hysteric magnetoconductance phase using gauge/gravity duality. This hysteric phase is triggered by a spontaneous magnetization related to Z2 symmetry and time reversal symmetry in a 2+1 dimensional system with momentum relaxation. We derive thermoelectric conductivity formulas describing non-hysteric and hysteric phases. At low temperatures, this magneto-conductance shows similar phase transitions of topological insulator surface states. We also obtain hysteresis curves of Seebeck coefficient and Nernst signal. It turns out that our impurity parameter changes magnetic properties of the dual system. This is justified by showing increasing susceptibility and the spontaneous magnetization with increasing impurity parameter., 22 pages, 7 figures, v2: Figures improved, reference added and minor changes, v3: Title modified, minor changes, version appear to JHEP

We report an investigation of Metal Insulator Transition (MIT) using conductivity and magnetoconductance (MC) measurements down to 0.3 K in Nd_{0.7}La_{0.3}NiO_{3} films grown on crystalline substrates of LaAlO_{3} (LAO), SrTiO_{3} (STO), and NdGaO_{3}(NGO) by pulsed laser deposition. The film grown on LAO experiences a compressive strain and shows metallic behavior with the onset of a weak resistivity upturn below 2 K which is linked to the onset of weak localization contribution. Films grown on STO and NGO show a crossover from a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) resistance regime to Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) resistance regime at definite temperatures. We establish that a cross-over from PTC to NTC on cooling does not necessarily constitute a MIT because the extrapolated conductivity at zero temperature \sigma_{0} though small (, Comment: 24 pages

The nodal-line semimetal is a new type of topological state of matter in which the crossing of two energy bands forms a nodal loop. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling, Mg3Bi2 is predicted as a type II nodal-line semimetal, which may evolve to a topological insulator with a small energy gap of ∼35 meV in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. However, the transport evidence is still lacking. Here, we measure the magneto-transport in Mg3Bi2. At low temperatures, the magnetoconductivity exhibits a weak antilocalization behavior. We fit the experimental data with a magnetoconductivity formula for the weak antilocalization effect of three-dimensional nodal-line semimetals as well as the well-known Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka formula for two-dimensional weak (anti)localization effects. By comparing the fitting results of these two theories, we demonstrate that the weak antilocalization in Mg3Bi2 is better described by the theory for nodal-line semimetals. Our work will inspire more explorations to use the new weak localization theory to identify a large spectrum of nodal-line semimetals.

Quantum corrections to electrical resistance can serve as sensitive probes of the magnetic landscape of a material. For example, interference between time-reversed electron paths gives rise to weak localization effects, which can provide information about the coupling between spins and orbital motion, while the Kondo effect is sensitive to the presence of spin impurities. Here we use low-temperature magnetotransport measurements to reveal a transition from weak antilocalization (WAL) to Kondo scattering in the quasi-two-dimensional electron gas formed at the interface between SrTiO$_3$ and the Mott insulator NdTiO$_3$. This transition occurs as the thickness of the NdTiO$_3$ layer is increased. Analysis of the Kondo scattering and WAL points to the presence of atomic-scale magnetic impurities coexisting with extended magnetic regions that affect transport via a strong magnetic exchange interaction. This leads to distinct magnetoresistance behaviors that can serve as a sensitive probe of magnetic properties in two dimensions., 5 pages, 3 figures