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$\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ has recently been the subject of intensive study, due to the prediction of axion insulator, Weyl semimetal, and quantum anomalous Hall insulator phases, depending on the structure and magnetic ordering. Experimental results have confirmed some aspects of this picture, but several experiments have seen zero-gap surfaces states at low temperature, in conflict with expectations. In this work, we develop a first-principles-based tight-binding model that allows for arbitrary control of the local spin direction and spin-orbit coupling, enabling us to accurately treat large unit-cells. Using this model, we examine the behavior of the topological surface state as a function of temperature, finding a gap closure only above the N\'eel temperature. In addition, we examine the effect of magnetic domains on the electronic structure, and we find that the domain wall zero-gap states extend over many unit-cells. These domain wall states can appear similar to the high-temperature topological surface state when many domain sizes are averaged, potentially reconciling theoretical results with experiments.

Magnetic Weyl semimetals with spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry exhibit a large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect originating from the Berry curvature. To employ this large Hall current for room temperature topo-spintronics applications, it is necessary to fabricate these materials as thin or ultrathin films. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that Weyl semimetal Co2MnGa thin films (20–50 nm) show a large anomalous Hall angle ~11.4% at low temperature and ~9.7% at room temperature, which can be ascribed to the non-trivial topology of the band structure with large intrinsic Berry curvature. However, the anomalous Hall angle decreases significantly with thicknesses below 20 nm, which band structure calculations confirm is due to the reduction of the majority spin contribution to the Berry curvature. Our results suggest that Co2MnGa is an excellent material to realize room temperature topo-spintronics applications; however, the significant thickness dependence of the Berry curvature has important implications for thin-film device design.

As exemplified by the growing interest in the quantum anomalous Hall effect, the research on topology as an organizing principle of quantum matter is greatly enriched from the interplay with magnetism. In this vein, we present a combined electrical and thermoelectrical transport study on the magnetic Weyl semimetal ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$. Unconventional contribution to the anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst effects were observed both above and below the magnetic transition temperature of ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$, indicating the existence of significant Berry curvature. ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ represents a rare case in which this unconventional transverse transport emerges both above and below the magnetic transition temperature in the same material. The transport properties evolve with temperature and field in the antiferromagnetic phase in a different manner than in the paramagnetic phase, suggesting different mechanisms to their origin. Our results indicate ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ is a fertile playground for investigating the interplay between magnetism and topology, and potentially a plethora of topologically nontrivial phases rooted in this interplay.

Magnetic Weyl semimetals are quantum phases of matter arising from the interplay of linearly dispersive bands, spin-orbit coupling, and time reversal symmetry breaking. This can be realised, for example, in Co3Sn2S2, based on a cobalt kagome lattice and characterised by intriguing phenomena such as large anomalous Hall effect, Nernst effect, and water oxidation. Here, we attempt to determine the robustness of the twofold necessary conditions for the emergence of the magnetic Weyl semimetal phase in Co3Sn2S2 ultrathin films. Except for two-dimensional layered materials, a reduction of thickness generally makes it difficult to develop topological character and ferromagnetic long-range order. In Co3Sn2S2 films, while ferromagnetic ordering appears robustly even in average thicknesses of one or two unit cells with island-like polycrystalline domains, the anomalous Hall conductivity appears only above a critical thickness of approximately 10 nm. The emergence of surface conduction and large anomalous Hall effect implies the distinct contribution of Weyl nodes and their Berry curvature. These findings reveal an exotic feature of Weyl physics in thin-film based superstructures as well as a potential for future applications in electronic devices. The coexistence of ferromagnetism and topology has recently attracted intense interest. Here, the thickness dependence of magnetisation and anomalous Hall conductivity is investigated in Co3Sn2S2 thin films, revealing a critical thickness of 10 nm for the emergence of the magnetic Weyl semimetal phase.

A tuning of Fermi level (E$_F$) near Weyl points is one of the promising approaches to realize large anomalous Nernst effect (ANE). In this work, we introduce an efficient approach to tune E$_F$ for the Co$_2$MnAl Weyl semimetal through a layer-by-layer combinatorial deposition of Co$_2$MnAl$_{1-x}$Si$_x$ (CMAS) thin film. A single-crystalline composition-spread film with x varied from 0 to 1 was fabricated. The structural characterization reveals the formation of single-phase CMAS alloy throughout the composition range with a gradual improvement of L2$_1$ order with x similar to the co-sputtered single layered film, which validates the present fabrication technique. Hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy for the CMAS composition-spread film directly confirmed the rigid band-like E$_F$ shift of approximately 0.40 eV towards the composition gradient direction from x = 0 to 1. The anomalous Ettingshausen effect (AEE), the reciprocal of ANE, has been measured for whole x range using a single strip along the composition gradient using the lock-in thermography technique. The similarity of the x dependence of observed AEE and ANE signals clearly demonstrates that the AEE measurement on the composition spread film is an effective approach to investigate the composition dependence of ANE of Weyl semimetal thin films and realize the highest performance without fabricating several films, which will accelerate the research for ANE-based energy harvesting, total 29 pages, 6 main figures, 3 supplementary figures, 1 supplementary table

As conductors in electronic applications shrink, microscopic conduction processes lead to strong deviations from Ohm's law. Depending on the length scales of momentum conserving ($l_{MC}$) and relaxing ($l_{MR}$) electron scattering, and the device size ($d$), current flows may shift from ohmic to ballistic to hydrodynamic regimes and more exotic mixtures thereof. So far, an in situ, in-operando methodology to obtain these parameters self-consistently within a micro/nanodevice, and thereby identify its conduction regime, is critically lacking. In this context, we exploit Sondheimer oscillations, semi-classical magnetoresistance oscillations due to helical electronic motion, as a method to obtain $l_{MR}$ in micro-devices even when $l_{MR}\gg d$. This gives information on the bulk $l_{MR}$ complementary to quantum oscillations, which are sensitive to all scattering processes. We extract $l_{MR}$ from the Sondheimer amplitude in the topological semi-metal WP$_2$, at elevated temperatures up to $T\sim 50$~K, in a range most relevant for hydrodynamic transport phenomena. Our data on micrometer-sized devices are in excellent agreement with experimental reports of the large bulk $l_{MR}$ and thus confirm that WP$_2$ can be microfabricated without degradation. Indeed, the measured scattering rates match well with those of theoretically predicted electron-phonon scattering, thus supporting the notion of strong momentum exchange between electrons and phonons in WP$_2$ at these temperatures. These results conclusively establish Sondheimer oscillations as a quantitative probe of $l_{MR}$ in micro-devices in studying non-ohmic electron flow., 14 pages with 4 figures

Since the concept of ferroelectric metal predicted in the 1960s has been experimentally realized in the bulk Weyl semimetal WTe2 [Sharma et al 2019 Sci. Adv. 5, eaax5080], it is significant to find the ultrathin polar metal or ferroelectric metal due to the demand of miniature of electronic nanodevices. Here, 2D buckled monolayers composed of group-IV elements such as SiGe, SiSn, and GeSn are selected as prototype. Then, the stability of 2D ferroelectricity in the above monolayers are confirmed based on the results of first-principles calculations. Most interesting, a robustly metallic polar state has been found in the above 2D ferrolectrics under both the electron doping and hole doping, and the polar distortion becomes even more remarkable when the electrons are doped as compared with the undoped system. Thus, the coexistence of polar state and conduction is theoretically verified in the doped group-IV monolayers. We hope the 2D ferroelectric materials can be used as a starting point to look for the polar metals with atomic thickness, and further broaden their applications in 2D electronics or spintronics in the future.

Symmetry breaking in topological matter became, in the last decade, a key concept in condensed matter physics to unveil novel electronic states. In this work, we reveal that broken inversion symmetry and strong spin-orbit coupling in trigonal PtBi2 lead to a Weyl semimetal band structure, with unusually robust two-dimensional superconductivity in thin fims. Transport measurements show that high-quality PtBi2 crystals are three-dimensional superconductors (Tc≈600 mK) with an isotropic critical field (Bc≈50 mT). Remarkably, we evidence in a rather thick flake (60 nm), exfoliated from a macroscopic crystal, the two-dimensional nature of the superconducting state, with a critical temperature Tc≈370 mK and highly-anisotropic critical fields. Our results reveal a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition with TBKT≈310 mK and with a broadening of Tc due to inhomogenities in the sample. Due to the very long superconducting coherence length ξ in PtBi2, the vortex-antivortex pairing mechanism can be studied in unusually-thick samples (at least five times thicker than for any other two-dimensional superconductor), making PtBi2 an ideal platform to study low dimensional superconductivity in a topological semimetal.

Co3Sn2S2 is a recently identified magnetic Weyl semimetal in Shandite compounds. Upon cooling, Co3Sn2S2 undergoes a ferromagnetic transition with c-axis polarized moments (∼0.3 µB/Co) around TC = 175 K, followed by another magnetic anomaly around TA ≈ 140 K. A large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect is observed in the magnetic state below TC with a maximum of anomalous Hall angle near TA. Here, we report an elastic neutron scattering on the crystalline lattice of Co3Sn2S2 in a magnetic field up to 10 T. A strongly anisotropic magnetoelastic response is observed-while only a slight enhancement of the Bragg peaks is observed when B//c. The in-plane magnetic field (B//ab) dramatically suppresses the Bragg peak intensity probably by tilting the moments and lattice toward the external field direction. The in-plane magnetoelastic response commences from TC, and as it is further strengthened below TA, it becomes nonmonotonic against the field between TA and TC because of the competition from another in-plane magnetic order. These results suggest that a magnetic field can be employed to tune the Co3Sn2S2 lattice and its related topological states.

In a tilted doped Weyl semimetal there are well-defined ranges of photon energies where there is dichroism. These correspond to regions of energy where the imaginary part of the dynamic Hall conductivity is finite. Such regions can involve contributions from both negative and positive chirality nodes or just one of them. As the temperature $(T)$ is increased, the boundaries of the regions of finite dichroism become smeared out in energy and extend beyond their original range for $T=0$ and at the same time the dichroism is reduced. When $T$ is increased to be of the order of the chemical potential associated with the doping, the dichroism vanishes completely. We have also extended the work to include the dynamic Hall angle which is found to behave in an analogous way. We treat the case when both chirality nodes have the same value of chemical potential, as well as when the two nodes are displaced in energy by an amount $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{\mathcal{Q}}_{0}$ due to broken inversion symmetry. Further, we have included the impurity effect within the framework of the first-order Born approximation to analyze the absorptive parts of longitudinal and Hall conductivity at a finite temperature.

The class of semimetals has emerged as upcoming future devices due to their technological efficient applications. The distinctive component in semimetals is the simultaneous manipulation of spin states along with electronic states that has prompted the discovery of spin ordering at Fermi level. The current investigation is first-principle approach to compute structural, electronic, thermoelectric and vibrational properties of VCo2Al. The systematic and detailed theoretical investigation based on density functional theory in combination with Boltzmann transport theory has been done for the first time. The structural properties namely lattice constant, bulk modulus and pressure derivative of bulk modulus have been calculated, revealing that VCo2Al gets stiffer on applying pressure. The plotted electronic band structure shows band dispersion at two discrete points at Fermi level specifying VCo2Al to be Weyl semimetal. The joint analysis of electronic band structure and plotted density of states affirms the band dispersion and presence of Weyl electrons at Fermi level. The present investigation purposes VCo2Al as an excellent n-type high temperature thermoelectric material having power factor of 184.3 × 1014 µW cm−1 K−2 s−1 at 800 K. The vibrational properties calculated within the framework of density functional perturbation theory uncover the dynamic stability of VCo2Al. The computed physical properties from these calculations would create new frontiers of experimental work for further realization of innovative applications.

Disorder in Weyl semimetals and superconductors is surprisingly subtle, attracting attention and competing theories in recent years. In this brief review, we discuss the current theoretical understanding of the effects of short-ranged, quenched disorder on the low energy-properties of three-dimensional, topological Weyl semimetals and superconductors. We focus on the role of non-perturbative rare region effects on destabilizing the semimetal phase and rounding the expected semimetal-to-diffusive metal transition into a cross over. Furthermore, the consequences of disorder on the resulting nature of excitations, transport, and topology are reviewed. New results on a bipartite random hopping model are presented that confirm previous results in a $p+ip$ Weyl superconductor, demonstrating that particle-hole symmetry is insufficient to help stabilize the Weyl semimetal phase in the presence of disorder. The nature of the avoided transition in a model for a single Weyl cone in the continuum is discussed. We close with a discussion of open questions and future directions., Localisation 2020 conference paper (review); 51 pages, 23 figures

We investigate ultrafast phonon dynamics in the Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_{x}$ alloy system for various compositions $x$ using a reflective femtosecond pump-probe technique. The coherent optical phonons corresponding to the A$_{1g}$ local vibrational modes of Bi-Bi, Bi-Sb, and Sb-Sb are generated and observed in the time domain with a few picoseconds dephasing time. The frequencies of the coherent optical phonons were found to change as the Sb composition $x$ was varied, and more importantly, the relaxation time of those phonon modes was dramatically reduced for $x$ values in the range 0.5--0.8. We argue that the phonon relaxation dynamics are not simply governed by alloy scattering, but are significantly modified by anharmonic phonon-phonon scattering with implied minor contributions from electron-phonon scattering in a Weyl-semimetal phase., 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics

Weyl semimetals are playing a major role in condensed matter physics due to exotic topological properties, and their coexistence with ferromagnetism may lead to enhanced spin-related phenomena. Here, the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) in the ferromagnetic Weyl-semimetal Heusler alloy Co$_2$MnGa was investigated at room temperature by means of electrical spin injection in lateral spin valve structures. Spin transport properties such as spin polarization and spin diffusion length in this material were precisely extracted in order to estimate the spin Hall angle $\theta_{\textrm{SH}}$, which was found to be $-0.19\pm0.04$ and is among the highest reported for a ferromagnet. Although this value is on the same order of magnitude of known heavy metals, the significantly higher resistivity of Co$_2$MnGa implies an improvement on the magnitude of detection voltages, while its ferromagnetic nature allows controlling the intensity of SHE through the magnetization direction. It was also shown that Onsager's reciprocity does not hold for this system, which is in part attributable to a different spin-dependent Hall conductivity for spin-up and spin-down carriers., Comment: 14 pages with 13 figures including supplemental materials

Unusual interactions occur between phonons and electrons in the topological semimetal tungsten diphosphide, a finding that could explain some of the material's strange properties.

A microscopic theory was recently developed for electrical spin manipulations in magnetic Weyl semimetals. With handedness (or chirality) of Weyl fermions as a keyword, the results on spin-orbit to...

A change in the composition of the ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{x}\mathrm{Te}$ IV--VI semiconductor or in its lattice parameter can drive a transition from a topologically trivial to a topological crystalline insulator (TCI), crossing a region where the alloy is in the Weyl semimetal phase. Incorporation of the magnetic Mn ions induces strong perturbations of the electronic structure, which act on both orbital and spin variables. Our first principles calculations show that the presence of Mn shifts the TCI and the Weyl region towards higher Sn contents in ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{x}\mathrm{Te}$. When the Mn spin polarization is finite, the spin perturbation, like the orbital part, induces changes in band energies comparable to the bandgap, which widens the Weyl region. The effect opens the possibility of driving transitions between various topological phases of the system by a magnetic field or by spontaneous Mn magnetization. We also propose a new method to calculate topological indices for systems with a finite spin polarization defined based on the concept of the Chern number. These valid topological characteristics enable the identification of the three distinct topological phases of the ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x\ensuremath{-}y}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{x}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{y}\mathrm{Te}$ alloy.

We show that the cubic compound PtBi2, is a topological semimetal hosting a sixfold band touching point in close proximity to the Fermi level. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we map the bandstructure of the system, which is in good agreement with results from density functional theory. Further, by employing a low energy effective Hamiltonian valid close to the crossing point, we study the effect of a magnetic field on the sixfold fermion. The latter splits into a total of twenty Weyl cones for a Zeeman field oriented in the diagonal, [111] direction. Our results mark cubic PtBi2, as an ideal candidate to study the transport properties of gapless topological systems beyond Dirac and Weyl semimetals., 15 pages, 6 figures; this is the final, published version

Fermi arcs on Weyl semimetals exhibit many exotic quantum phenomena. Usually found on atomically flat surfaces with approximate translation symmetry, Fermi arcs are rooted in the peculiar topology of bulk Bloch bands of 3D crystals. The fundamental question of whether a 1D Fermi arc can be probed remains unanswered. Such an answer could significantly broaden potential applications of Weyl semimetals. Here, we report a direct observation of robust edge states on atomic-scale ledges in TaAs using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. Spectroscopic signatures and theoretical calculations reveal that the 1D Fermi arcs arise from the chiral Weyl points of bulk crystals. The crossover from 2D Fermi arcs to eventual complete localization on 1D edges was arrested experimentally on a sequence of surfaces. Our results demonstrate extreme robustness of the bulk-boundary correspondence, which offers topological protection for Fermi arcs, even in cases in which the boundaries are at the atomic-scale. The persistent 1D Fermi arcs can be profitably exploited in miniaturized quantum devices.

The observation of electrically tunable and highly confined plasmons in graphene has stimulated the exploration of interesting properties of plasmons in other two-dimensional materials. Recently, hyperbolic plasmon resonance modes have been observed in exfoliated ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ films, a type-II Weyl semimetal with layered structure, providing a platform for the assembly of plasmons with hyperbolicity and exotic topological properties. However, the plasmon modes were observed in relatively thick and small-area films, which restrict the tunability and application for plasmons. Here, large-area (approximately cm) ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ films with different thicknesses are grown by the chemical vapor deposition method, in which plasmon resonance modes are observed in films with different thicknesses down to about 8 nm. Hybridization of plasmon and surface polar phonons of the substrate is revealed by mapping the plasmon dispersion. The plasmon frequency is demonstrated to be tunable by changing the temperature and film thickness. Our results facilitate the development of a tunable and scalable ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$ plasmonic system for revealing topological properties and towards various applications in sensing, imaging, and light modulation.

Experiments identified Co3Sn2S2 as the first magnetic Weyl semimetal (MWSM). Using first-principles calculation with a global optimization approach, we explore the structural stabilities and topological electronic properties of cobalt (Co-based shandite and alloys, Co3MM-X2 (M/M-=Ge, Sn, Pb, X=S, Se, Te), and identify new stable structures with new Weyl phases. Using a tight-binding model, for the first time, we reveal that the physical origin of the nodal lines of a Co-based shandite structure is the interlayer coupling between Co atoms in different Kagome layers, while the number of Weyl points and their types are mainly governed by the interaction between Co and the metal atoms, Sn, Ge, and Pb. The Co3SnPbS2 alloy exhibits two distinguished topological phases, depending on the relative positions of the Sn and Pb atoms: a three-dimensional quantum anomalous Hall metal, and a MWSM phase with anomalous Hall conductivity (~1290) that is larger than that of Co2Sn2S2. Our work reveals the physical mechanism of the origination of Weyl fermions in Co-based shandite structures and proposes new topological quantum states with high thermal stability., Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures

We introduce PVSC-DTM (Parallel Vectorized Stencil Code for Dirac and Topological Materials), a library and code generator based on a domain-specific language tailored to implement the specific stencil-like algorithms that can describe Dirac and topological materials such as graphene and topological insulators in a matrix-free way. The generated hybrid-parallel (MPI+OpenMP) code is fully vectorized using Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) extensions. It is significantly faster than matrix-based approaches on the node level and performs in accordance with the roofline model. We demonstrate the chip-level performance and distributed-memory scalability of basic building blocks such as sparse matrix-(multiple-) vector multiplication on modern multicore CPUs. As an application example, we use the PVSC-DTM scheme to (i) explore the scattering of a Dirac wave on an array of gate-defined quantum dots, to (ii) calculate a bunch of interior eigenvalues for strong topological insulators, and to (iii) discuss the photoemission spectra of a disordered Weyl semimetal., Comment: 16 pages, 2 tables, 11 figures

We show how the axial (chiral) anomaly induces a spin torque on the magnetization in magnetic Weyl semimetals. The anomaly produces an imbalance in left- and right-handed chirality carriers when non-orthogonal electric and magnetic fields are applied. Such imbalance generates a spin density which exerts a torque on the magnetization, the strength of which can be controlled by the intensity of the applied electric field. We show how this results in an electric control of the chirality of domain walls, as well as in an improvement of the domain wall dynamics, by delaying the onset of the Walker breakdown. The measurement of the electric field mediated changes in the domain wall chirality would constitute a direct proof of the axial anomaly. Additionally, we show how quantum fluctuations of electronic Fermi arc states bound to the domain wall naturally induce an effective magnetic anisotropy, allowing for high domain wall velocities even if the intrinsic anisotropy of the magnetic Weyl semimetal is small., 12 pages, 4 figures

This work presents the emergence of superconductivity in Ir - doped Weyl semimetal T$_d$ - MoTe$_{2}$ with broken inversion symmetry. Chiral anomaly induced planar Hall effect and anisotropic magneto-resistance confirm the topological semimetallic nature of Mo$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$Te$_{2}$. Observation of weak anisotropic, moderately coupled type-II superconductivity in T$_d$ -Mo$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$Te$_{2}$ makes it a promising candidate for topological superconductor., Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures

Topological materials with extremely large magnetoresistance exhibit a prognostic feature of resistivity turn-on behaviour. This occurs when the temperature dependence of resistivity ρ ( T ) changes from metallic to semiconducting characteristics on application of external magnetic field above a threshold value. Here, we study the magneto-transport properties of type-II Weyl Semimetal WP2. The zero field electrical resistivity in the low temperature region indicates the dominant electron-phonon scattering. The saturation in ρ ( T ) curves under all applied magnetic fields are observed at low temperatures. A minimum in resistivity at ~40K is revealed in the temperature derivative of resistivity curves, which implies onset of field induced turn-on effect. Furthermore, a non-saturating linear magnetoresistance (MR) is observed above ~ 5 T which is generally assigned to linear energy dispersion near the Weyl nodes. However, Kohler's scaling fits the data well with resistivity ρ ~ ( B / ρ 0 ) m that implicitly explains the turn-on behaviour and the resistivity minimum. Thus, semi-classical theories of magnetoresistance are consistent with our data without the need to invoke topological surface states. Our findings in this work provides an alternative basis to understand the temperature dependence of magnetoresistance in topological materials.

A strong correlation between magnetic interaction and topological symmetries leads to unconventional magneto-transport behavior. Weyl fermions induce topologically protected spin-momentum locking, which is closely related to spin-wave gap formation in magnetic crystals. Ferromagnetic SrRuO3, regarded as a strong candidate for Weyl semimetal, inherently possesses a nonzero spin-wave gap owing to its strong magnetic anisotropy. In this paper, we propose a method to control the spin-wave dynamics by nanolayer designing of the SrRuO3/SrTiO3 superlattices. In particular, the six-unit-cell-thick SrRuO3 layers within the superlattices undergo a phase transition in crystalline symmetry from orthorhombic to tetragonal, as the thickness of the SrTiO3 layers is modulated with atomic-scale precision. Consequently, the magnetic anisotropy, anomalous Hall conductivity, and spin-wave gap could be systematically manipulated. Such customization of magnetic anisotropy via nanoscale heterostructuring offers a novel control knob to tailor the magnon excitation energy for future spintronic applications, including magnon waveguides and filters. Our nanolayer approach unveils the important correlation between the tunable lattice degrees of freedom and spin dynamics in topologically non-trivial magnetic materials., Comment: 25 page

The antiferromagnet and semimetal EuCd$_2$As$_2$ has recently attracted a lot of attention due to a wealth of topological phases arising from the interplay of topology and magnetism. In particular, the presence of a single pair of Weyl points is predicted for a ferromagnetic configuration of Eu spins along the $c$-axis in EuCd$_2$As$_2$. In the search for such phases, we investigate here the effects of hydrostatic pressure in EuCd$_2$As$_2$. For that, we present specific heat, transport and $\mu$SR measurements under hydrostatic pressure up to $\sim\,2.5\,$GPa, combined with {\it ab initio} density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Experimentally, we establish that the ground state of EuCd$_2$As$_2$ changes from in-plane antiferromagnetic (AFM$_{ab}$) to ferromagnetic at a critical pressure of $\,\approx\,$2\,GPa, which is likely characterized by the moments dominantly lying within the $ab$ plane (FM$_{ab}$). The AFM$_{ab}$-FM$_{ab}$ transition at such a relatively low pressure is supported by our DFT calculations. Furthermore, our experimental and theoretical results indicate that EuCd$_2$As$_2$ moves closer to the sought-for FM$_c$ state (moments $\parallel$ $c$) with increasing pressure further. We predict that a pressure of $\approx$\,23\,GPa will stabilize the FM$_c$ state, if Eu remains in a 2+ valence state. Thus, our work establishes hydrostatic pressure as a key tuning parameter that (i) allows for a continuous tuning between magnetic ground states in a single sample of EuCd$_2$As$_2$ and (ii) enables the exploration of the interplay between magnetism and topology and thereby motivates a series of future experiments on this magnetic Weyl semimetal., Comment: 8 figures in main text, 6 figures in Appendix; 14 pages total

Two-dimensional (2D) surface of the topological materials is an attractive channel for the electrical conduction reflecting the linearly-dispersive electronic bands. Thickness-dependent sheet conductance measurement is a reliable method to evaluate the 2D and three-dimensional (3D) electrical conducting channel separately but has rarely been applied for Weyl semimetals. By applying this method to thin films of a Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2, here we show that the 2D conducting channel clearly emerges under the ferromagnetic phase, indicating a formation of the Fermi arcs projected from Weyl nodes. Comparison between 3D conductivity and 2D conductance provides the effective thickness of the surface conducting region being estimated to be approximately 20 nm, which would reflect the Weyl feature of electronic bands of the Co3Sn2S2. The emergent surface conduction will provide a pathway to activate quantum and spintronic transport features stemming from a Weyl node in thin-film-based devices.

The Ge2Sb2Te5 is a phase change material (PCM) widely used in non-volatile random-access memory (PC-RAM) devices since 2017. Despite the compound is under intense investigation its electronic structure and nature of a switching mechanism is not fully understood. The present work sheds new light on the nature of memory and switching effects observed in such compounds. Results of our research demonstrate that crystal structure of Ge2Sb2Te5 possess different topological quantum phases: a 2D topological quantum phase is realized at the switching effect and a Weyl semimetal phase or 3D topological crystalline phase is a characteristic of the non-volatile memory effect. Since the structural phase transition can be caused by the external electric field, we discovered that the switching between different topologically non-trivial phases can be driven by variation of electrical potential on the top gate of topological field effect transistor. A similar pattern is observed when the thickness of the layers GeTe/Sb2Te3 changes. The obtained results have been possible to develop a unified physical model that explains the simultaneously observed effects of non-volatile memory and switching.

A Weyl semimetal has Weyl nodes that always come in pairs with opposite chiralities. Notably, different ways of connection between nodes are possible and would lead to distinct topologies. Here we identify their differences in many respects from two proposed models with different vorticities. One prominent feature is the behaviour of zeroth Landau levels (LLs) under magnetic field. We demonstrate that the magnetic tunneling does not always expel LLs from zero energy because the number of zero-energy modes is protected by the vorticity of the Weyl nodes, instead of the chirality. Other respects in disorder effects for weak (anti-)localization, surface Fermi arcs, and Weyl-node annihilation, are interesting consequences that await more investigation in the future.

Despite the fundamental nature of the edge state in topological physics, direct measurement of electronic and optical properties of the Fermi arcs of topological semimetals has posed a significant experimental challenge, as their response is often overwhelmed by the metallic bulk. However, laser-driven currents carried by surface and bulk states can propagate in different directions in nonsymmorphic crystals, allowing for the two components to be easily separated. Motivated by a recent theoretical prediction \cite{chang20}, we have measured the linear and circular photogalvanic effect currents deriving from the Fermi arcs of the nonsymmorphic, chiral Weyl semimetal RhSi over the $0.45 - 1.1$ eV incident photon energy range. Our data are in good agreement with the predicted magnitude of the circular photogalvanic effect as a function of photon energy, although the direction of the surface photocurrent departed from the theoretical expectation over the energy range studied. Surface currents arising from the linear photogalvanic effect were observed as well, with the unexpected result that only two of the six allowed tensor element were required to describe the measurements, suggesting an approximate emergent mirror symmetry inconsistent with the space group of the crystal., Comment: 6+5 pages, 5+3 figures

Electron-phonon coupling in ZrCo2Sn is investigated within the density-functional theory and linear-response approach in the mixed-basis pseudopotential representation. Phonon-induced scattering is analyzed for excited electrons (holes) in two majority bands, which form the topological Weyl state. Although the electron-phonon coupling in the energy range under consideration demonstrates some dependence on the available phase space, the strength of the phonon-mediated scattering, λ, changes rather weakly with the hole (electron) energy and momentum, varying between 0.1 and 0.3. The momentum-averaged value of λ ranges from 0.25 to 0.45. The phonon-mediated scattering of electrons near the Weyl point is found to be weak enough to warrant well-defined quasiparticles. Most of the modes actively involved in electron scattering are middle- and high-frequency lattice vibrations, while the participation of low-energy acoustic phonons is significantly suppressed by electron-phonon matrix elements. Of the long-wavelength optical phonons, only the T2g Raman active modes generated by opposite vibrations of Co atoms make a noticeable contribution to the scattering of electrons., This work was supported by the University of the Basque Country (Grants No. GIC07-IT-366-07 and No. IT- 756-13), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant No. FIS2016-75862-P), and Saint Petersburg State University (ID 51126254). The authors acknowledge support by the state of Baden-Württemberg through bwHPC.

We investigate structural and transport properties of highly Ru-deficient SrRu0.7O3 thin films prepared by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) SrTiO3 substrates. To distinguish the influence of the two types of disorders in the films, Ru vacancies within lattices and disorders near the interface, SrRu0.7O3 thin films with various thicknesses (t = 1-60 nm) were prepared. It was found that the influence of the former dominates the electrical and magnetic properties when t > 5-10 nm, while that of the latter does when t < 5-10 nm. Structural characterizations revealed that the crystallinity, in terms of the Sr and O sublattices, of SrRu0.7O3 thin films, is as high as that of the ultrahigh-quality SrRuO3 ones. The Curie temperature (TC) analysis elucidated that SrRu0.7O3 (TC = 140 K) is a material distinct from SrRuO3 (TC = 150 K). Despite the large Ru deficiency (30%), the SrRu0.7O3 films showed metallic conduction when t > 5 nm. In high-field magnetoresistance measurements, the fascinating phenomenon of Weyl fermion transport was not observed for the SrRu0.7O3 thin films irrespective of thickness, which is in contrast to the stoichiometric SrRuO3 films. The (magneto)transport properties suggest that a picture of carrier scattering due to the Ru vacancies is appropriate for SrRu0.7O3, and also that proper stoichiometry control is a prerequisite to utilizing the full potential of SrRuO3 as a magnetic Weyl semimetal and two-dimensional spin-polarized system. Nevertheless, the large tolerance in Ru composition (30 %) to metallic conduction is advantageous for some practical applications where SrRu1-xO3 is exploited as an epitaxial conducting layer.

We investigate the tunneling magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) comprised of Weyl semimetal contacts. We show that chirality-magnetization locking leads to a gigantic tunneling magnetoresistance ratio, an effect that does not rely on spin filtering by the tunnel barrier. Our results indicate that the conductance in the anti-parallel configuration is more sensitive to magnetization fluctuations than in MTJs with normal ferromagnets, and predicts a TMR as large as 10^4 % when realistic magnetization fluctuations are accounted for. In addition, we show that the Fermi arc states give rise to a non-monotonic dependence of conductance on the misalignment angle between the magnetizations of the two contacts., Comment: Submitter did not receive the consent of all co-authors. Manuscript will be withdraw temporarily

Anisotropy in electronic structures may ignite intriguing anisotropic optical responses, as has been well demonstrated in various systems including superconductors, semiconductors, and even topological Weyl semimetals. Meanwhile, it is well established in metal optics that the metal reflectance declines from one to zero when the photon frequency is above the plasma frequency {\omega}p , behaving as a plasma mirror. However, the exploration of anisotropic plasma mirrors and corresponding applications remains elusive, especially at room temperature. Here, we discover a pronounced anisotropic plasma reflectance edge in the type-II Weyl semimetal WP2, with an anisotropy ratio of {\omega}p up to 1.5. Such anisotropic plasma mirror behavior and its robustness against temperature promise optical device applications over a wide temperature range. For example, the high sensitivity of polarization-resolved plasma reflectance edge renders WP2 an inherent polarization detector. We further achieve a room-temperature WP2-based optical switch, effectively controlled by simply tuning the light polarization. These findings extend the frontiers of metal optics as a discipline and promise the design of multifunctional devices combining both topological and optical features.

Nontrivial topology in condensed-matter systems enriches quantum states of matter to go beyond either the classification into metals and insulators in terms of conventional band theory or that of symmetry-broken phases by Landau’s order parameter framework. So far, focus has been on weakly interacting systems, and little is known about the limit of strong electron correlations. Heavy fermion systems are a highly versatile platform to explore this regime. Here we report the discovery of a giant spontaneous Hall effect in the Kondo semimetal Ce3Bi4Pd3 that is noncentrosymmetric but preserves time-reversal symmetry. We attribute this finding to Weyl nodes—singularities of the Berry curvature—that emerge in the immediate vicinity of the Fermi level due to the Kondo interaction. We stress that this phenomenon is distinct from the previously detected anomalous Hall effect in materials with broken time-reversal symmetry; instead, it manifests an extreme topological response that requires a beyond-perturbation-theory description of the previously proposed nonlinear Hall effect. The large magnitude of the effect in even tiny electric and zero magnetic fields as well as its robust bulk nature may aid the exploitation in topological quantum devices., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (8), ISSN:0027-8424, ISSN:1091-6490

For electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), developing high-performance catalysts without containing precious metals has been a major research focus in the current. Herein, we show the feasibility of HER catalytic enhancement in Ni-based materials based on topological engineering from hybrid Weyl states. Via a high-throughput computational screening from ∼140 000 materials, we identify a chiral compound NiSi is a hybrid Weyl semimetal (WSM) with showing bulk type-I and type-II Weyl nodes and long surface Fermi arcs near the Fermi level. Sufficient evidences verify that topological charge carriers participate in the HER process, and make the certain surface of NiSi highly active with the Gibbs free energy nearly zero (0.07 eV), which is even lower than Pt and locates on the top of the volcano plots. This work opens up a new routine to develop no-precious-metal-containing HER catalysts via topological engineering, rather than traditional defect engineering, doping engineering, or strain engineering.

We study the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in tilted multi-Weyl Semimetals (WSM) employing a two-band lattice model. We focus on the type-II phase of mWSMs, introduced by incorporating a Lorentz symmetry violating tilt term. We add to the understanding of the CME (and anomalous Hall effect) in the type-II phase of mWSMs and near the Lifshitz transition by varying tilt. Like the elementary WSM, our results also indicate that the Berry curvature drives the CME for higher monopole charges. We find a peak in the CME at the transition point and discuss its significance using the density of states. Along the way we also examine both observables as a function of the energy separation of the Weyl points., Comment: 6 pages and 6 figures in the original version. 13 pages, 12 figures in the revised version

Nanomaterials 11(1), 251 (2021). doi:10.3390/nano11010251, Magnetic Weyl semimetals are newly discovered quantum materials with the potential for use in spintronic applications. Of particular interest is the cubic Heusler compound Co$_{2}$MnGa due to its inherent magnetic and topological properties. This work presents the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of magnetron co-sputtered Co$_{2}$MnGa thin films, with thicknesses ranging from 10 to 80 nm. Polarized neutron reflectometry confirmed a uniform magnetization through the films. Hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed a high degree of spin polarization and localized (itinerant) character of the Mn d (Co d) valence electrons and accompanying magnetic moments. Further, broadband and field orientation-dependent ferromagnetic resonance measurements indicated a relation between the thickness-dependent structural and magnetic properties. The increase of the tensile strain-induced tetragonal distortion in the thinner films was reflected in an increase of the cubic anisotropy term and a decrease of the perpendicular uniaxial term. The lattice distortion led to a reduction of the Gilbert damping parameter and the thickness-dependent film quality affected the inhomogeneous linewidth broadening. These experimental findings will enrich the understanding of the electronic and magnetic properties of magnetic Weyl semimetal thin films, Published by MDPI, Basel

Herein, sputter-deposited ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal (WSM) and full-Heusler compound Co2TiGe is investigated. Crystal quality is analyzed using X-ray diffraction and reflectivity. In addition, temperature-dependent transport and magnetization measurements are carried out. The sample shows indications on the formation of L2(1)crystal structure. Magnetization measurements show a saturation magnetization of 1.98 mu(B)(f.u.)(-1)and 1.45 mu(B)(f.u.)(-1)at 50 and 300 K, respectively. This is in close agreement to the calculated value of 2 mu(B)(f.u.)(-1)at 0 K using the Slater-Pauling rule. The obtained Curie temperature is 378.5 K, which is close to prior results for bulk samples. The residual resistivity of 142.7 mu omega cm is mainly dominated by disorder scattering. At temperatures above 60 K, the Coulomb interaction dominates the resistance. The residual resistance ratio is around 1.49. Hall measurements show positive ordinary Hall and anomalous Hall constants and a positive dependence on temperature. Skew scattering and side jumps or intrinsic mechanisms contribute in similar amounts to the anomalous Hall resistivity, which indicates a higher than usual intrinsic contribution, which is expected for WSMs. The expected relation between the longitudinal and the anomalous Hall conductivity of sigma xyA proportional to sigma xx0is not met.

We show that the quantum geometry of the Fermi surface can be numerically described by a three-dimensional discrete quantum manifold. This approach not only avoids singularities in the Fermi sea, but it also enables the precise computation of the intrinsic Hall conductivity resolved in spin, as well as any other local properties of the Fermi surface. The method assures numerical accuracy when the Fermi level is arbitrarily close to singularities, and it remains robust when Kramers degeneracy is protected by symmetry. The approach is demonstrated by calculating the anomalous Hall and spin Hall conductivities of a two-band lattice model of a Weyl semimetal and a full-band ab initio model of zinc-blende GaAs.

The topological transition in the strongly correlated half-metallic ferromagnetic compound Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ from Weyl semimetal (including chiral massless fermions) to a non-magnetic state is treated. This transition goes with a change in topological invariant, and is accompanied by a non-topological transition from saturated ferromagnetic to paramagnetic state, the minority Fermi surface being transformed from ghost (hidden) to real. A corresponding description is given in terms of slave fermion representation for the effective narrow-band Hubbard model. The system Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ provides a bright example of coexistence of non-trivial topology and strong low-dimensional ferromagnetism. A comparison is performed with other compounds where frustrations result in formation of a correlated paramagnetic state., Comment: 4 pages

Funding Information: This study was financed by Merck Sharp & Dohme, MSD España. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Physical Society. Fermi arc surface states, the manifestation of the bulk-edge correspondence in Weyl semimetals, have attracted much research interest. In contrast to the conventional Fermi loop, the disconnected Fermi arcs provide an exotic two-dimensional (2D) system for exploration of novel physical effects on the surface of Weyl semimetals. Here, we propose that visible conductance oscillation can be achieved in planar junctions fabricated on the surface of a Weyl semimetal with a pair of Fermi arcs. It is shown that Fabry-Pérot-type interference inside the 2D junction can generate conductance oscillation with its visibility strongly relying on the shape of the Fermi arcs and their orientation relative to the strip electrodes, the latter clearly revealing the anisotropy of the Fermi arcs. Moreover, we show that the visibility of the oscillating pattern can be significantly enhanced by a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface taking advantage of the bulk-surface connected Weyl orbits. Our work offers an effective way to identify Fermi arc surface states through transport measurement and predicts the surface of Weyl semimetals as a novel platform for the implementation of 2D conductance oscillations.

Strain can be used to modify the band structure—and thus the electronic properties—of two-dimensional materials. However, research has focused on the use of monolayer graphene with a limited lowering of spatial symmetry and considered only the real-space pseudo-magnetic field. Here we show that lithographically patterned strain can be used to create a non-trivial band structure and exotic phase of matter in bilayer graphene. The approach creates artificially corrugated bilayer graphene in which real-space and momentum-space pseudo-magnetic fields (Berry curvatures) coexist and have non-trivial properties, such as Berry curvature dipoles. This leads to the appearance of two Hall effects without breaking time-reversal symmetry: a nonlinear anomalous Hall effect that originates from the Berry curvature dipole, previously only observed in the Weyl semimetal WTe2, and a linear Hall effect that originates from a warped band dispersion on top of Rashba-like valley–orbit coupling and is similar to the recently proposed Magnus Hall effect. Artificial corrugations in bilayer graphene can produce a nonlinear anomalous Hall effect that originates from the Berry curvature dipole and a linear Hall effect that originates from a warped Rashba-like valley–orbit coupled band dispersion.

Magnetic topological materials, which combine magnetism and topology, are expected to host emerging topological states and exotic quantum phenomena. In this study, with the aid of greatly enhanced coercive fields in high-quality nanoflakes of the magnetic Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2, we investigate anomalous electronic transport properties that are difficult to reveal in bulk Co3Sn2S2 or other magnetic materials. When the magnetization is antiparallel to the applied magnetic field, the low longitudinal resistance state occurs, which is in sharp contrast to the high resistance state for the parallel case. Meanwhile, an exceptional Hall component that can be up to three times larger than conventional anomalous Hall resistivity is also observed for transverse transport. These anomalous transport behaviors can be further understood by considering nonlinear magnetic textures and the chiral magnetic field associated with Weyl fermions, extending the longitudinal and transverse transport physics and providing novel degrees of freedom in the spintronic applications of emerging topological magnets., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figs

One remarkable feature of Weyl semimetals is the manifestation of their topological nature in the form of the Fermi-arc surface states. In a recent calculation by \cite{Johansson2018}, the current-induced spin polarization or Edelstein effect has been predicted, within the semiclassical Boltzmann theory, to be strongly amplified in a Weyl semimetal TaAs due to the existence of the Fermi arcs. Motivated by this result, we calculate the Edelstein response of an effective model for an inversion-symmetry-breaking Weyl semimetal in the presence of an interface using linear response theory. The scatterings from scalar impurities are included and the vertex corrections are computed within the self-consistent ladder approximation. At chemical potentials close to the Weyl points, we find the surface states have a much stronger response near the interface than the bulk states by about one to two orders of magnitude. At higher chemical potentials, the surface states' response near the interface decreases to be about the same order of magnitude as the bulk states' response. We attribute this phenomenon to the decoupling between the Fermi arc states and bulk states at energies close to the Weyl points. The surface states which are effectively dispersing like a one-dimensional chiral fermion become nearly nondissipative. This leads to a large surface vertex correction and, hence, a strong enhancement of the surface states' Edelstein response., Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures

Composite quantum compounds (CQCs) have become an important avenue for the investigation of intercorrelation between two distinct phenomena in physics. Topological superconductors, axion insulators, etc., are a few such CQCs which have recently drawn tremendous attention in the community. Topological nontriviality and Rashba spin physics are two different quantum phenomena but can be intertwined within a CQC platform. In this paper, we present a general symmetry-based mechanism, supported by ab initio calculations, to achieve intertwined giant Rashba splitting and topological nontrivial states simultaneously in a single crystalline system. Such coexistent properties can further be tuned to achieve other rich phenomena. We have achieved Rashba splitting energy ($\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}E$) and Rashba coefficient ($\ensuremath{\alpha}$) values as large as 161 meV and 4.87 eV \AA{}, respectively, in conjunction with the Weyl semimetal phase in ${\mathrm{KSnSb}}_{0.625}{\mathrm{Bi}}_{0.375}$. Interestingly, these values are even larger than the values reported for the widely studied topologically trivial Rashba semiconductor BiTeI. The advantage of our present analysis is that one can achieve various topological phases without compromising the Rashba parameters, within this CQC platform.

A heterostructure consisting of a magnetic Weyl semimetal and a conventional superconductor exhibits an equilibrium current parallel to the superconductor interface and perpendicular to the magnetization. Analyzing a minimal model, which as a function of parameters may be in a trivial magnetic insulator phase, a Weyl semimetal phase, or a three-dimensional weak Chern insulator phase, we find that the equilibrium current is sensitive to the presence of surface states, such as the topological Fermi-arc states of the Weyl semimetal or the chiral surface states of the weak Chern insulator. While there is a nonzero equilibrium current in all three phases, the appearance of the surface states in the topological regime leads to a reversal of the direction of the current, compared to the current direction for the trivial magnetic insulator phase. We discuss the interpretation of the surface-state contribution to the equilibrium current as a real-space realization of the superconductivity-enabled equilibrium chiral magnetic effect of a single chirality, predicted to occur in bulk Weyl superconductors., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures

The Weyl semimetal, due to a non-zero energy difference in the pair of Weyl nodes, shows chiral magnetic effect (CME). This leads to a flow of dissipationless electric current along an applied magnetic field. Such a chiral magnetic effect in Weyl semimetals has been studied using the laws of classical electrodynamics. It has been shown that the CME in such a semimetal changes the properties namely, frequency-dependent skin depth, capacitive transport, plasma frequency, etc., in an unconventional way as compared to the conventional metals. In the low-frequency regime, the properties are controlled by a natural length scale due to CME called the chiral magnetic length. Furthermore, unlike the conventional metals, the plasma frequency in this case is shown to be strongly magnetic field-dependent. Since the plasma frequency lies below the optical frequency, the Weyl semimetals will look transparent. Such new and novel observations might help in exploiting these class of materials in potential applications which would completely change the future technology.

Weyl semimetals (WSMs) hosting Weyl points (WPs) with different chiralities attract great interest as an object to study chirality-related physical properties, topological phase transitions, and topological superconductivity. Quantum oscillation measurements and theoretical calculations imply that the type-II WPs in NbIrTe4 are robust against the shift of chemical potential making it a good material for pressure studies on topological properties. Here we report the results of electrical transport property measurements and Raman spectroscopy studies under pressures up to 65.5 GPa accompanied by theoretical electronic structure calculations. Hall resistivity data reveal an electronic transition indicated by a change of the charge carrier from multiband character to hole-type at ~12 GPa, in agreement with the calculated Fermi surface. An onset of superconducting transition is observed at pressures above 39 GPa, with critical temperature increasing as pressure increases. Moreover, theoretical calculations indicate that WPs persist up to highly reduced unit cell volume (−17%), manifesting that NbIrTe4 is a candidate of topological superconductor.