Search

The van der Waals material MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and the related Sb-substituted compounds Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ are prominent members of the family of magnetic topological insulators, in which rare quantum mechanical states can be realized. In this work, we study the evolution of the charge dynamics in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and the Sb-substituted compound Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ with $x=0.26$ under hydrostatic pressure. For MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, the pressure dependence of the screened plasma frequency, the dc conductivity, and the reflectance at selected frequencies shows weak anomalies at $\sim$2 and $\sim$4~GPa, which might be related to an electronic phase transition driven by the enhanced interlayer interaction. We observe a pressure-induced decrease in the optical gap, consistent with the decrease in and closing of the energy gap reported in the literature. Both studied materials show an unusual decrease in the low-energy optical conductivity under pressure, which we attribute to a decreasing spectral weight of the Drude terms describing the free charge carrier excitations. Our results suggest a localization of conduction electrons under pressure, possibly due to hybridization effects., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$(FTS) occupies a special spot in modern condensed matter physics at the intersections of electron correlation, topology, and unconventional superconductivity. The bulk electronic structure of FTS is predicted to be topologically nontrivial thanks to the band inversion between the $d_{xz}$ and $p_z$ bands along $\Gamma$-$Z$. However, there remain debates in both the authenticity of the Dirac surface states (DSS) and the experimental deviations of band structure from the theoretical band inversion picture. Here we resolve these debates through a comprehensive ARPES investigation. We first observe a persistent DSS independent of $k_z$. Then, by comparing FTS with FeSe which has no band inversion along $\Gamma$-$Z$, we identify the spectral weight fingerprint of both the presence of the $p_z$ band and the inversion between the $d_{xz}$ and $p_z$ bands. Furthermore, we propose a reconciling band structure under the framework of a tight-binding model preserving crystal symmetry. Our results highlight the significant influence of correlation on modifying the band structure and make a strong case for the existence of topological band structure in this unconventional superconductor.

We present a temperature-dependent infrared spectroscopy study on the layered topological semimetal Nb$_3$SiTe$_6$ combined with density-functional theory (DFT) calculations of the electronic band structure and optical conductivity. Our results reveal an anisotropic behavior of the in-plane ($ac$-plane) optical conductivity, with three pronounced excitations located at around 0.15, 0.28, and 0.41~eV for the polarization of the incident radiation along the $c$ axis. These excitations are well reproduced in the theoretical spectra. Based on the \textit{ab initio} results, the excitations around 0.15 eV and 0.28 eV are interpreted as fingerprints of van Hove singularities in the electronic band structure and compared to the findings for other topological semimetals., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is a promising representative of intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulators, which could enable rare quantum mechanical effects like the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Especially at low temperatures, numerous studies have been reported, demonstrating the great potential of this compound in the magnetically ordered state below $T_{\mathrm{N}}$. Among recent findings, the alloy compound Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ has been suggested to be an interesting candidate for the realization of an ideal Weyl semimetal state. By exchanging Bi by Sb, the electronic structure is influenced in terms of a shift of the Fermi energy, and a decrease in the energy gap has been predicted. In this work, we investigate and compare the optical conductivity of Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ single crystals with various Sb doping levels $x$ by infrared reflectivity measurements. We observe a big impact of the Sb content on the low-energy excitations characterizing the metallic state of our samples. Different $x$=0.26 crystals show significant differences in their optical response and also a strong position dependence. The findings are compared to the recently reported optical conductivity spectrum of the pure compound MnBi$_2$Te$_4$., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

Polarization-dependent reflectivity measurements were carried out over a broad frequency range on single-crystalline ZrGeSe and ZrGeS compounds, which are closely related to the prototype nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS. These measurements revealed the strongly anisotropic character of both ZrGeSe and ZrGeS, with a reduced plasma frequency for the out-of-plane direction {\bf E}$\| c$ as compared to the in-plane direction {\bf E}$\| ab$. For {\bf E}$\| ab$ the optical conductivity spectrum consists of two Drude terms followed by a shoulder or plateau-like behavior and a distinct U shape at higher energies, while for {\bf E}$\| c$ one Drude term is followed by a peak-like behavior and the U shape of the profile is less developed. Under external pressure, two prominent excitations appear in the out-of-plane optical conductivity spectrum of ZrGeSe, whose frequency position and oscillator strength show a weak anomaly at $\sim$3~GPa. Overall, the pressure-induced changes in the profile of the {\bf E}$\| c$ conductivity spectrum are much enhanced above $\sim$3~GPa. We compare our results to those recently reported for ZrSiS in a quantitative manner., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

The tuning of magnetic phase, chemical potential, and structure is crucial to observe diverse exotic topological quantum states in $MnBi_2Te_4(Bi_2Te_3)_m$ (m = 0, 1, 2, & 3). Here we show a ferromagnetic (FM) phase with a chiral crystal structure in $Mn(Bi_{1-x}Sb_x)_4Te_7$, obtained via tuning the growth conditions and Sb concentration. Unlike previously reported $Mn(Bi_{1-x}Sb_x)_4Te_7$, which exhibits FM transitions only at high Sb doping levels, our samples show FM transitions ($T_C$ = 13.5 K) at 15%-27% doping levels. Furthermore, our single crystal x-ray diffraction structure refinements find Sb doping leads to a chiral structure with the space group of P3, contrasted with the centrosymmetric P-3m1 crystal structure of the parent compound $MnBi_4Te_7$. Through ARPES measurements, we also demonstrated that the non-trivial band topology is preserved in the Sb-doped FM samples. Given that the non-trivial band topology of this system remains robust for low Sb doping levels, our success in making FM $Mn(Bi_{1-x}Sb_x)_4Te_7$ with $x$ = 0.15, 0.175, 0.2 & 0.27 paves the way for realizing the predicted topological quantum states such as axion insulator and Weyl semimetals. Additionally, we also observed magnetic glassy behavior in both antiferromagnetic $MnBi_4Te_7$ and FM $Mn(Bi_{1-x}Sb_x)_4Te_7$ samples, which we believe originates from cluster spin glass phases coexisting with long-range AFM/FM orders. We have also discussed how the antisite Mn ions impact the interlayer magnetic coupling and how FM interlayer coupling is stabilized in this system., Comment: 37 Pages, 7 Figures and 2 Tables. Supplementary Materials is included

The discovery of an intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator (AFM-TI) in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ has attracted intense attention, most of which lies on its electrical properties. In this paper, we report electronic, thermal, and thermoelectric transport studies of this newly found AFM-TI. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of its resistivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient indicate strong coupling between charge, lattice, and spin degrees of freedom in this system. Furthermore, MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ exhibits a large anomalous Nernst signal, which is associated with non-zero Berry curvature of the field-induced canted antiferromagnetic state., Comment: submitted in Oct. 2021, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

Topological insulators with intrinsic magnetic ordering, potentially hosting rare quantum effects, recently attracted extensive attention. MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is the first established example. The Sb-doped variant Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ shows a great variety of electronic properties depending on the Sb content~$x$, such as shifts in the Fermi level and the Neel temperature $T_{\mathrm N}$, and the change of the free charge carrier type from $n$- to $p$-type at high Sb substitution ratios. Here, we investigate the effect of magnetic ordering on the bulk electronic structure of Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ with high Sb content $x=0.93$ by temperature-dependent reflectivity measurements over a broad frequency range. We observe anomalies in the optical response across $T_{\mathrm N}$ when the antiferromagnetic order sets, which suggests a coupling between the magnetic ordering and the electronic structure of the material., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

Ca$_{3}$Ru$_{2}$O$_{7}$ is a polar metal that belongs to the class of multiferroic magnetic materials. Here, tiny amounts of Fe doping in the Ru sites bring about dramatic changes in the electronic and magnetic properties and generate a complex H-T phase diagram. To date, not much is known about the ground state of such a system in the absence of magnetic field. By performing muon-spin spectroscopy (${\mu}$SR) measurements in 5% Fe-doped Ca$_{3}$Ru$_{2}$O$_{7}$ single crystals, we investigate its electronic properties at a local level. Transverse-field ${\mu}$SR results indicate a very sharp normal-to-antiferromagnetic transition at T$_{N}$ = 79.7(1) K, with a width of only 1 K. Zero-field ${\mu}$SR measurements in the magnetically ordered state allow us to determine the local fields B$_{i}$ at the muon implantation sites. By symmetry, muons stopping close to the RuO$_{2}$ planes detect only the weak nuclear dipolar fields, while those stopping next to apical oxygens sense magnetic fields as high as 150 mT. In remarkable agreement with the nominal Fe-doping, a $\sim$ 6% minority of the these muons feel slightly lower fields, reflecting a local magnetic frustration induced by iron ions. Finally, B$_{i}$ shows no significant changes across the metal-to-insulator transition, close to 40 K. We ascribe this surprising lack of sensitivity to the presence of crystal twinning., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

Using spin-resolved and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, we have identified bulk band inversion and spin polarized surface state evolved from a weak topological insulator (TI) phase in van der Waals materials Nb3XTe6 (X = Si, Ge). The fingerprints of weak TI homologically emerge with hourglass fermions, as multi nodal chains composed by the same pair of valence and conduction bands gapped by spin orbit coupling. The novel topological state, with a pair of valence and conduction bands encoding both weak TI and hourglass semimetal nature, is essential and guaranteed by nonsymmorphic symmetry. It is distinct from TIs studied previously based on band inversions without symmetry protections., Comment: 4 figures

The magnetic excitations in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ are studied by polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering experiments as a function of temperature. At the scattering vector of the Fermi-surface nesting with a half-integer out-of-plane component, there is no evidence for the appearance of a resonance excitation in the superconducting phase. The body of existing data indicates weakening of the scattered intensity in the nesting spectrum to occur at very low energies. The nesting signal persists up to 290 K but is strongly reduced. In contrast, a quasi-ferromagnetic contribution maintains its strength and still exhibits a finite width in momentum space.

The layered topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ has attracted great interest recently due to its intrinsic antiferromagnetic order, potentially hosting various topological phases. By temperature-dependent infrared spectroscopy over a broad frequency range, we studied the changes in the optical conductivity of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ at the magnetic ordering temperature. The temperature dependence of several optical parameters reveals an anomaly at the magnetic phase transition, which suggests the correlation between the bulk electronic band structure and the magnetism. We relate our findings to recent reports on the temperature dependence of the electronic band structure of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$., Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

We report field-induced magnetic phase transitions and transport properties of antiferromagnetic DyPtBi. We show that DyPtBi hosts a delicate balance between two different magnetic ground states, which can be controlled by a moderate magnetic field. Furthermore, it exhibits giant anomalous Hall effect (\sigma_A=1540 (ohm cm)^{-1},\theta_{AHE} = 24%) in a field-induced Type-I spin structure, presumably attributed to the enhanced Berry curvature associated with avoided band-crossings near the Fermi energy and / or non-zero spin chirality. The latter mechanism points DyPtBi towards a rare potential realization of anomalous Hall effect in an antiferromagnet with face-center-cubic lattice that was proposed in [Physical Review Letters 87, 116801 (2001)]., Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. B

The discovery of Weyl semimetals (WSMs) has fueled tremendous interest in condensed matter physics. WSMs require breaking of either inversion symmetry (IS) or time-reversal symmetry (TRS); they can be categorized into type-I and type-II WSMs, characterized by un-tilted and strongly tilted Weyl cones respectively. Type-I WSMs with breaking of IS or TRS and type-II WSMs with IS breaking have been realized experimentally, but TRS-breaking type-II WSM still remains elusive. In this article, we report an ideal TRS-breaking type-II WSM with only one pair of Weyl nodes observed in the antiferromagnetic topological insulator Mn(Bi1-xSbx)2Te4 under magnetic fields. This state is manifested by a large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect, a non-trivial $\mathrm{{\pi}}$ Berry phase of the cyclotron orbit and a large positive magnetoresistance in the ferromagnetic phase at an optimal sample composition. Our results establish a promising platform for exploring the physics underlying the long-sought, ideal TRS breaking type-II WSM., Comment: 28 Pages, 5 Figures

The quasi-2D metal Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ is one of the best characterized unconventional superconductors, yet the nature of its superconducting order parameter is still highly debated. This information is crucial to determine the pairing mechanism of Cooper pairs. Here we use ultrasound velocity to probe the superconducting state of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$. This thermodynamic probe is symmetry-sensitive and can help to identify the superconducting order symmetry. Indeed, we observe a sharp jump in the shear elastic constant $c_{66}$ as the temperature is raised across the superconducting transition at $T_c$. This directly implies that the superconducting order parameter is of a two-component nature. Based on symmetry argument and given the other known properties of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, we discuss what states are compatible with this requirement and propose that the two-component order parameter, namely $\lbrace d_{xz}; d_{yz} \rbrace$, is the most likely candidate.

Recent observations [A.~Pustogow et al. Nature 574, 72 (2019)] of a drop of the $^{17}$O nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) Knight shift in the superconducting state of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ challenged the popular picture of a chiral odd-parity paired state in this compound. Here we use polarized neutron scattering to show that there is a $34 \pm 6$ % drop in the magnetic susceptibility at the ruthenium site below the superconducting transition temperature. Measurements are made at lower fields $H \sim \tfrac{1}{3} H_{c2}$ than a previous study allowing the suppression to be observed. Our results are consistent with the recent NMR observations and rule out the chiral odd-parity $\mathbf{d}=\hat{\mathbf{z}}(k_x\pm ik_y)$ state. The observed susceptibility is consistent with several recent proposals including even-parity $B_{1g}$ and odd-parity helical states., Comment: New version with Supplementary Material discussing orbital contributions to the susceptibility, Fermi liquid corrections and a two fluid model

The layered material ZrSiTe is currently extensively investigated as a nodal-line semimetal with Dirac-like band crossings protected by nonsymmorphic symmetry close to the Fermi energy. A recent infrared spectroscopy study on ZrSiTe under external pressure found anomalies in the optical response, providing hints for pressure-induced phase transitions at $\approx$4.1 and $\approx$6.5 GPa. By pressure-dependent Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements combined with electronic band structure calculations we find indications for two pressure-induced Lifshitz transitions with major changes in the Fermi surface topology in the absence of lattice symmetry changes. These electronic phase transitions can be attributed to the enhanced interlayer interaction induced by external pressure. Our findings demonstrate the crucial role of the interlayer distance for the electronic properties of layered van der Waals topological materials., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

Tunable symmetry breaking plays a crucial role for the manipulation of topological phases of quantum matter. Here, through combined high-pressure magneto-transport measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, we demonstrate a pressure-induced topological phase transition in nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS. Symmetry analysis and first-principles calculations suggest that this pressure-induced topological phase transition may be attributed to weak lattice distortions by non-hydrostatic compression, which breaks some crystal symmetries, such as the mirror and inversion symmetries. This finding provides some experimental evidence for crystal symmetry protection for the topological semimetal state, which is at the heart of topological relativistic fermion physics., Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures

Exotic properties in single or few layers of van der Waals materials carry great promise for applications in nanoscaled electronics, optoelectronics and flexible devices. The established, distinct examples include extremely high mobility and superior thermal conductivity in graphene, a large direct band gap in monolayer MoS2 and quantum spin Hall effect in WTe2 monolayer, etc. All these exotic properties arise from the electron quantum confinement effect in the two-dimensional limit. Here we report a novel phenomenon due to one-dimensional (1D) confinement of carriers in a layered van der Waals material NbSi0.45Te2 revealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, i.e. directional massless Dirac fermions. The 1D behavior of the carriers is directly related to a stripe-like structural modulation with the long-range translational symmetry only along the stripe direction, as perceived by scanning tunneling microscopy experiment. The four-fold degenerated node of 1D Dirac dispersion is essential and independent on band inversion, because of the protection by nonsymmorphic symmetry of the stripe structure. Our study not only provides a playground for investigating the striking properties of the essential directional massless Dirac fermions, but also introduces a unique monomer with 1D long-range order for engineering nano-electronic devices based on heterostructures of layered van der Waals materials., Comment: A revised version published in Nature Materials (2019); 20 pages, 4 figures

A counter-intuitive enhancement of quantum fluctuation with larger spins, together with a few novel physical phenomena, is discovered in studying the recently observed emergent magnetism in high-temperature superconductor FeSe under pressure. Starting with experimental crystalline structure from our high-pressure X-ray refinement, we analyze theoretically the stability of the magnetically ordered state with a realistic spin-fermion model. We find surprisingly that in comparison with the magnetically ordered Fe-pnictides, the larger spins in FeSe suffer even stronger long-range quantum fluctuation that diminishes their ordering at ambient pressure. This "fail-to-order" quantum spin liquid state then develops into an ordered state above 1GPa due to weakened fluctuation accompanying the reduction of anion height and carrier density. The ordering further benefits from the ferro-orbital order and shows the observed enhancement around 1GPa. We further clarify the controversial nature of magnetism and its interplay with nematicity in FeSe in the same unified picture for all Fe-based superconductors. In addition, the versatile itinerant carriers produce interesting correlated metal behavior in a large region of phase space. Our study establishes a generic exceptional paradigm of stronger quantum fluctuation with larger spins that complements the standard knowledge of insulating magnetism., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

We use inelastic neutron scattering to show that long-range spin waves arising from the static bicollinear antiferromagnetic (AF) order in FeTe, which have twofold rotational symmetry in a fully detwinned crystal, rapidly dissolve above $E\approx 26$ meV into ridges of scattering with fourfold rotational symmetry and a nearly isotropic magnetic fluctuation spectrum. With increasing temperature above $T_N\approx 68$ K, the twofold spin waves change into broad regions of scattering with fourfold symmetry. Since the scattering patterns from plaquette magnetic order generated within a bilinear biquadratic Hamiltonian have fourfold rotational symmetry consistent with the high-energy, spin-isotropic spin waves of FeTe, we conclude that the bicollinear AF state in FeTe is quasidegenerate with plaquette magnetic order, providing evidence for the strongly frustrated nature of the local moments in iron chalcogenide family of iron-based superconductors., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures

Spin-valley locking in the band structure of monolayers of MoS$_2$ and other group-VI dichalcogenides has attracted enormous interest, since it offers potential for valleytronic and optoelectronic applications. Such an exotic electronic state has sparsely been seen in bulk materials. Here, we report spin-valley locking in a bulk Dirac semimetal BaMnSb$_2$. We find valley and spin are inherently coupled for both valence and conduction bands in this material. This is revealed by comprehensive studies using first principle calculations, tight-binding and effective model analyses, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum transport measurements. Moreover, this material also exhibits a stacked quantum Hall effect. The spin-valley degeneracy extracted from the plateau height of quantized Hall resistivity is close to 2. This result, together with the observed Landau level spin splitting, further confirms the spin-valley locking picture. In the extreme quantum limit, we have also observed a two-dimensional chiral metal at the side surface, which represents a novel topological quantum liquid. These findings establish BaMnSb$_2$ as a rare platform for exploring coupled spin and valley physics in bulk single crystals and accessing 3D interacting topological states., Comment: Updated acknowledgement

We studied the effect of external pressure on the optical response of the nodal-line semimetal candidate ZrSiTe by reflectivity measurements. At pressures of a few GPa, the reflectivity, optical conductivity, and loss function are strongly affected in the whole measured frequency range (200-16500 cm$^{-1}$), indicating drastic changes in the electronic band structure. The pressure-induced shift of the electronic bands affects both the intraband and interband transitions. We find anomalies in the pressure dependence of several optical parameters at the pressures $P_{c1}$$\approx$4.1 GPa and $P_{c2}$$\approx$6.5 GPa, suggesting the occurrence of two phase transitions of either structural or electronic type., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

Topological materials which are also superconducting are of great current interest, since they may exhibit a non-trivial topologically-mediated superconducting phase. Although there have been many reports of pressure-tuned or chemical-doping-induced superconductivity in a variety of topological materials, there have been few examples of intrinsic, ambient pressure superconductivity in a topological system having a stoichiometric composition. Here, we report that the pure intermetallic CaSn3 not only exhibits topological fermion properties but also has a superconducting phase at 1.178 K under ambient pressure. The topological fermion properties, including the nearly zero quasi-particle mass and the non-trivial Berry phase accumulated in cyclotron motions, were revealed from the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) quantum oscillation studies of this material. Although CaSn3 was previously reported to be superconducting at 4.2K, our studies show that the superconductivity at 4.2K is extrinsic and caused by Sn on the degraded surface, whereas its intrinsic bulk superconducting transition occurs at 1.178 K. These findings make CaSn3 a promising candidate for exploring new exotic states arising from the interplay between non-trivial band topology and superconductivity, e.g. topological superconductivity, Comment: 20 pages,4 figures

The half-Heusler compounds YPdBi and TbPdBi, while having similar band structure, exhibit different magnetic properties. YPdBi is a diamagnet, while TbPdBi shows antiferromagnetic order below 5.5 K. Both are superconductors with T${_c}\approx$1 K for YPdBi and T${_c}\approx$1.75 K for TbPdBi. Such a contrast in properties between these two compounds opens a question about the effects of band structure or magnetic correlations on superconductivity. Using the combination of a tunnel diode oscillator (TDO) and a commercial dilution refrigerator, we measured temperature dependent magnetic penetration depth $\Delta\lambda(T)$ in single crystals of YPdBi and TbPdBi, down to temperatures as low as 0.1K. We found that penetration depths of both compounds do not show exponential temperature dependence and saturation at low temperatures, as expected for conventional BCS superconductors. Instead, in both compounds, the penetration depth can be described by a power law $\Delta\lambda(T) = A\times T^{n}$. The coefficient A was found to be about 50$\%$ smaller in TbPdBi, but the exponents are very similar, $n = 2.76\pm 0.04$ in YPdBi and $n = 2.6\pm 0.3$ in TbPdBi, respectively. Our results suggest unconventional superconductivity in both YPdBi and TbPdBi.

Triplet pairing in Sr2RuO4 was initially suggested based on the hypothesis of strong ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. Using polarized inelastic neutron scattering, we accurately determine the full spectrum of spin fluctuations in Sr2RuO4. Besides the well-studied incommensurate magnetic fluctuations we do find a sizeable quasiferromagnetic signal, quantitatively consistent with all macroscopic and microscopic probes. We use this result to address the possibility of magnetically-driven triplet superconductivity in Sr2RuO4. We conclude that, even though the quasiferromagnetic signal is stronger and sharper than previously anticipated, spin fluctuations alone are not enough to generate a triplet state strengthening the need for additional interactions or an alternative pairing scenario.

We present a detailed investigation of the specific heat in Ca$_3$(Ru$_{1-x}M_x$)$_2$O$_7$ ($M$ = Ti, Fe, Mn) single crystals. With different dopants and doping levels, three distinct regions are present, including a quasi-2D metallic state with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order formed by ferromagnetic bilayers (AFM-$b$), a Mott insulating state with G-type AFM order (G-AFM) and a localized state with a mixed AFM-b and G-AFM phase. Our specific heat data provide deep insights into the Mott transitions induced by Ti and Mn dopings. We observed not only an anomalous large mass enhancement but also an additional term in the specific heat i.e. $C\propto T^2$ in the localized region. The $C\propto T^2$ term is most likely due to the long-wavelength excitations with both FM and AFM components. A decrease of Debye temperature is observed in the G-type AFM region, indicating a lattice softening associated with the Mott transition., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We have studied the half-Heusler compound TbPdBi through resistivity, magnetization, Hall effect and heat capacity measurements. A semimetal behavior is observed in its normal state transport properties, which is characterized by a large negative magnetoresistance below 100 K. Notably, we find the coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in this compound. The superconducting transition appears at 1.7 K, while the antiferromagnetic phase transition takes place at 5.5 K. The upper critical field $H_{c2}$ shows an unusual linear temperature dependence, implying unconventional superconductivity. Moreover, when the superconductivity is suppressed by magnetic field, its resistivity shows plateau behavior, a signature often seen in topological insulators/semimetals. These findings establish TbPdBi as a platform for study of the interplay between superconductivity, magnetism and non-trivial band topology., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Sr$_4$Ru$_3$O$_{10}$, the $n$ = 3 member of the Ruddlesden-Popper type ruthenate Sr$_{n+1}$Ru$_n$O$_{3n+1}$, is known to exhibit a peculiar metamagnetic transition in an in-plane magnetic field. However, the nature of both the temperature- and field-dependent phase transitions remains as a topic of debate. Here, we have investigated the magnetic transitions of Sr$_4$Ru$_3$O$_{10}$ via single-crystal neutron diffraction measurements. At zero field, we find that the system undergoes a ferromagnetic transition with both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic components at $T_{c}$ ~ 100 K. Below $T^{*}$ ~ 50 K, the magnetic moments incline continuously toward the out-of-plane direction. At $T$ ~ 1.5 K, where the spins are nearly aligned along the $c$ axis, a spin reorientation occurs above a critical field $B_c$, giving rise to a spin component perpendicular to the plane defined by the field direction and the $c$ axis. We suggest that both the temperature- and field-driven spin reorientations are associated with a change in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, which is strongly coupled to the lattice degrees of freedom. This study elucidates the long-standing puzzles on the zero-field magnetic orders of Sr$_4$Ru$_3$O$_{10}$ and provides new insights into the nature of the field-induced metamagnetic transition., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Sci. Rep

We report the magnetic and electronic properties of the bilayer ruthenate Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ upon Fe substitution for Ru. We find that Sr$_3$(Ru$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$)$_2$O$_7$ shows a spin-glass-like phase below 4 K for $x$ = 0.01 and commensurate E-type antiferromagnetically ordered insulating ground state characterized by the propagation vector $q_c$ = (0.25 0.25 0) for $x$ $\geq$ 0.03, respectively, in contrast to the paramagnetic metallic state in the parent compound with strong spin fluctuations occurring at wave vectors $q$ = (0.09 0 0) and (0.25 0 0). The observed antiferromagnetic ordering is quasi-two-dimensional with very short correlation length along the $c$ axis, a feature similar to the Mn-doped Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$. Our results suggest that this ordered ground state is associated with the intrinsic magnetic instability in the pristine compound, which can be readily tipped by the local magnetic coupling between the 3$d$ orbitals of the magnetic dopants and Ru 4$d$ orbitals., Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures

We present a new type of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) arising from an anomalous collapse of the Mott insulating state via a modest magnetic field in a bilayer ruthenate, Ti-doped Ca$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$. Such an insulator-metal transition is accompanied by changes in both lattice and magnetic structures. Our findings have important implications because a magnetic field usually stabilizes the insulating ground state in a Mott-Hubbard system, thus calling for a deeper theoretical study to reexamine the magnetic field tuning of Mott systems with magnetic and electronic instabilities and spin-lattice-charge coupling. This study further provides a model approach to search for CMR systems other than manganites, such as Mott insulators in the vicinity of the boundary between competing phases., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, an unconventional superconductor, is known to possess an incommensurate spin density wave instability driven by Fermi surface nesting. Here we report a static spin density wave ordering with a commensurate propagation vector $q_c$ = (0.25 0.25 0) in Fe-doped Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, despite the magnetic fluctuations persisting at the incommensurate wave vectors $q_{ic}$ = (0.3 0.3 L) as in the parent compound. The latter feature is corroborated by the first principles calculations, which show that Fe substitution barely changes the nesting vector of the Fermi surface. These results suggest that in addition to the known incommensurate magnetic instability, Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ is also in proximity to a commensurate magnetic tendency that can be stabilized via Fe doping., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, 47 references

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments on Sr2RuO4 determine the spectral weight of the nesting induced magnetic fluctuations across the superconducting transition. There is no observable change at the superconducting transition down to an energy of ~0.35 meV, which is well below the 2 delta values reported in several tunneling experiments. At this and higher energies magnetic fluctuations clearly persist in the superconducting state. Only at energies below ~0.3 meV evidence for partial suppression of spectral weight in the superconducting state can be observed. This strongly suggests that the one-dimensional bands with the associated nesting fluctuations do not form the active, highly gapped bands in the superconducting pairing in Sr2RuO4., Comment: accepted in Phys. Rev. Lett. (2017)

The WHM - type materials (W=Zr/Hf/La, H=Si/Ge/Sn/Sb, M=O/S/Se/Te) have been predicted to be a large pool of topological materials. These materials allow for fine tuning of spin-orbit coupling, lattice constant and structural dimensionality for various combinations of W, H and M elements, thus providing an excellent platform to study how these parameters' tuning affect topological semimetal state. In this work, we report the high field quantum oscillation studies on ZrGeM (M=S, Se, and Te). We have found the first experimental evidence for their theoretically-predicted topological semimetal states. From the angular dependence of quantum oscillation frequency, we have also studied the Fermi surface topologies of these materials. Moreover, we have compared Dirac electron behavior between the ZrGeM and ZrSiM systems, which reveals deep insights to the tuning of Dirac state by spin-orbit coupling and lattice constants in the WHM systems.

Relativistic fermions in topological quantum materials are characterized by linear energy-momentum dispersion near band crossing points. Under magnetic field, relativistic fermions acquire Berry phase of {\pi} in cyclotron motion, leading to a zeroth Landau level (LL) at the crossing point. Such field-independent zeroth LL, which distinguishes relativistic fermions from conventional electron systems, is hardly probed in transport measurements since the Fermi energy (EF) is usually not right at the band crossing points in most topological materials. Here we report the observation of exotic quantum transport behavior resulting from the zeroth LL in a multiband topological semimetal YbMnBi2 which possesses linear band crossings both at and away from the Fermi level (FL). We show that the Dirac bands with the crossing points being above or below the FL leads to Shubnikov de-Haas oscillations in the in-plane magnetoresistance, whereas the Dirac bands with the crossing points being at the FL results in unusual angular dependences of the out-of-plane magnetoresistance and in-plane Hall resistivity due to the dependence of the zeroth LL's degeneracy on field orientation. Our results shed light on the transport mechanism of the zeroth LL's relativistic fermions in layered materials.

Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ (SRO) is the prime candidate for chiral $p$-wave superconductor with critical temperature $T_{c}(SRO)\sim$1.5 K. Chiral domains with opposite chiralities $p_{x}\pm ip_{y}$ were proposed, but yet to be confirmed. We measure the field dependence of the point contact (PC) resistance between a tungsten tip and the SRO-Ru eutectic crystal, where micrometer-sized Ru inclusions are embedded in SRO with atomic sharp interface. Ruthenium is an $s$-wave superconductor with $T_{c}(Ru)\sim$0.5 K, flux pinned near the Ru inclusions can suppress its superconductivity as reflected from the PC resistance and spectra. This flux pinning effect is originated from SRO \textit{underneath} the surface and is very strong. To fully remove it, one has to thermal cycle the sample above $T_{c}(SRO)$. This resembles the thermal demagnetization for a ferromagnet, where ferromagnetic domains are randomized above its Curie temperature. Another way is by applying alternating fields with decreasing amplitude, resembling field demagnetization for the ferromagnet. The observed hysteresis in magnetoresistance can be explained by domain dynamics, providing support for the existence of chiral domains. The origin of strong pinning \textit{underneath} the surface is also discussed., Comment: 4 figures, supplemental materials not included, the schematic illustration is revised, as well as the discussion part

A hallmark of materials with extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR) is the transformative 'turn-on' temperature behavior: when the applied magnetic field $H$ is above certain value, the resistivity versus temperature $\rho(T)$ curve shows a minimum at a field dependent temperature $T^*$, which has been interpreted as a magnetic-field-driven metal-insulator transition or attributed to an electronic structure change. Here, we demonstrate that $\rho(T)$ curves with turn-on behavior in the newly discovered XMR material WTe$_2$ can be scaled as MR $\sim(H/\rho_0)^m$ with $m\approx 2$ and $\rho_0$ being the resistivity at zero-field. We obtained experimentally and also derived from the observed scaling the magnetic field dependence of the turn-on temperature $T^* \sim (H-H_c)^\nu$ with $\nu \approx 1/2$, which was earlier used as evidence for a predicted metal-insulator transition. The scaling also leads to a simple quantitative expression for the resistivity $\rho^* \approx 2 \rho_0$ at the onset of the XMR behavior, which fits the data remarkably well. These results exclude the possible existence of a magnetic-field-driven metal-insulator transition or significant contribution of an electronic structure change to the low-temperature XMR in WTe$_2$. This work resolves the origin of the turn-on behavior observed in several XMR materials and also provides a general route for a quantitative understanding of the temperature dependence of MR in both XMR and non-XMR materials.

We report a novel phenomenon intimately related to the spin-triplet superconductivity. It is well known that the spin susceptibility decreases below the superconducting transition temperature in almost all superconductors because of spin-singlet pair formation, while it may remain unchanged in a handful of spin-triplet exceptions. Here we report the observation in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that the spin susceptibility originating from the Ru-4$d$ electron slightly $increases$ by $\sim 2 $\% of total and becomes inhomogeneous in the superconducting state. These are reasonably explained if the electron pairs form the equal-spin-pairing (ESP) in the mixed state. A similar phenomenon was predicted for superfluid $^3$He forty years ago, but had never been demonstrated in any superconductor., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures + supplemental material. To appear in Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Communication

The chiral anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance and non-trivial Berry phase are two fundamental transport properties associated with the topological properties of Weyl fermions. In this work, we report the quantum transport of TaP single crystals in magnetic field up to 31T. Through the analyses of our magnetotransport data, we show TaP has the signatures of a Weyl state, including light effective quasiparticle masses, ultrahigh carrier mobility, as well as negative longitudinal magnetoresistance. Furthermore, we have generalized the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula for Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations with multi-frequencies, and determined the non-trivial Berry phase of Pi for multiple Fermi pockets in TaP through the direct fitting of the quantum oscillations. In high fields, we also probed signatures of Zeeman splitting, from which the Land\'e g-factor is extracted.

Weyl (WSMs) evolve from Dirac semimetals in the presence of broken time-reversal symmetry (TRS) or space-inversion symmetry. The WSM phases in TaAs-class materials and photonic crystals are due to the loss of space-inversion symmetry. For TRS-breaking WSMs, despite numerous theoretical and experimental efforts, few examples have been reported. In this Article, we report a new type of magnetic semimetal Sr1-yMn1-zSb2 (y,z<0.1) with nearly massless relativistic fermion behaviour (m*=0.04-0.05m0, where m0 is the free electron mass). This material exhibits a ferromagnetic order for 304K < T < 565K, but a canted antiferromagnetic order with a ferromagnetic component for T < 304K. The combination of relativistic fermion behaviour and ferromagnetism in Sr1-yMn1-zSb2 offers a rare opportunity to investigate the interplay between relativistic fermions and spontaneous TRS breaking., Comment: Accepted by Nature Materials

We report results of our low-temperature magneto electric transport measurements on micron-sized short cylinders of odd-parity, spin-triplet superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ with the cylinder axis along the $c$ axis. The in-plane magnetic field and measurement current dependent magnetoresistance oscillations were found to feature an amplitude much larger than that expected from the conventional Little-Parks effect, suggesting that the magnetoresistance oscillations originate from vortex crossing. The free-energy barrier that controls the vortex crossing was modulated by the magnetic flux enclosed in the cylinder, the in-plane field, measurement current, and structural factors. Distinct features on magnetoresistance peaks were found, which we argue to be related to the emergence of half-flux quantum states, but only in samples for which the vortex crossing is confined at specific parts of the sample., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

In correlated oxides the coupling of quasiparticles to other degrees of freedom such as spin and lattice plays critical roles in the emergence of symmetry-breaking quantum ordered states such as high temperature superconductivity. We report a strong lattice coupling of photon induced Hubbard excitonic quasiparticles in spin-orbital coupling Mott insulator Sr2IrO4. Combining time-resolved optical spectroscopy techniques, we further reconstructed spatiotemporal map of the diffusion of quasiparticles via time-dependent coherence analysis of the x-ray Bragg diffraction peak. Due to the unique electronic configuration of the exciton, the strong lattice correlation is unexpected but extends the similarity between Sr2IrO4 and cuprates under highly non-equilibrium conditions. The coherence analysis method we developed may have important implications for characterizing the structure and carrier dynamics in a wider group of oxide heterostructures., Comment: Main text has 17 pages, 4 figures; supplemental information has 5 pages, 3 figures, and 1 table

The extraordinary properties of two dimensional (2D) materials, such as the extremely high carrier mobility in graphene and the large direct band gaps in transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Mo or W, X = S, Se) monolayers, highlight the crucial role quantum confinement can have in producing a wide spectrum of technologically important electronic properties. Currently one of the highest priorities in the field is to search for new 2D crystalline systems with structural and electronic properties that can be exploited for device development. In this letter, we report on the unusual quantum transport properties of the 2D ternary transition metal chalcogenide - Nb3SiTe6. We show that the micaceous nature of Nb3SiTe6 allows it to be thinned down to one-unit-cell thick 2D crystals using microexfoliation technique. When the thickness of Nb3SiTe6 crystal is reduced below a few unit-cells thickness, we observed an unexpected, enhanced weak-antilocalization signature in magnetotransport. This finding provides solid evidence for the long-predicted suppression of electron-phonon interaction caused by the crossover of phonon spectrum from 3D to 2D., Comment: Accepted by Nature Physics

Differential resistance measurements are conducted for point contacts (PCs) between tungsten tip approaching along the $c$ axis direction and the $ab$ plane of Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ single crystal. Three key features are found. Firstly, within 0.2 mV there is a dome like conductance enhancement due to Andreev reflection at the normal-superconducting interface. By pushing the W tip further, the conductance enhancement increases from 3\% to more than 20\%, much larger than that was previously reported, probably due to the pressure exerted by the tip. Secondly, there are also superconducting like features at bias higher than 0.2 mV which persists up to 6.2 K, resembling the enhanced superconductivity under uniaxial pressure for bulk Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ crystals but more pronounced here. Third, the logarithmic background can be fitted with the Altshuler-Aronov theory of tunneling into quasi two dimensional electron system, consistent with the highly anisotropic electronic system in Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$., Comment: prb style, 9 pages, 8 figs

The quantum oscillations of the magnetoresistance under ambient and high pressure have been studied for WTe$_2$ single crystals, in which extremely large magnetoresistance was discovered recently. By analyzing the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, four Fermi surfaces are identified, and two of them are found to persist to high pressure. The sizes of these two pockets are comparable, but show increasing difference with pressure. At 0.3 K and in 14.5 T, the magnetoresistance decreases drastically from 1.25 $\times$ $10^5$\% under ambient pressure to 7.47 $\times$ $10^3$\% under 23.6 kbar, which is likely caused by the relative change of Fermi surfaces. These results support the scenario that the perfect balance between the electron and hole populations is the origin of the extremely large magnetoresistance in WTe$_2$., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We have studied the effect of spin-orbital coupling (SOC) on electronic transport properties of the thermoelectric material $\beta$-K$_{2}$Bi$_{8}$Se$_{13}$ via magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. We found that the strong SOC in this material results in weak antilocalization (WAL) effect, which can be well described by the three-dimensional weak localization model. The phase coherence length extracted from theoretical fitting exhibits a power-law temperature dependence with an exponent around 2.1, indicating that the electron phase dephasing is governed by electron - transverse phonon interactions. Like in topological insulators, the WAL effect in $\beta$-K$_{2}$Bi$_{8}$Se$_{13}$ can be quenched by magnetic impurities (Mn) but is robust against non-magnetic impurities (Te). Although our magnetotransport studies do not provide any evidences for topological surface states, our analyses suggest that SOC plays an important role in determining thermoelectric properties of $\beta$-K$_{2}$Bi$_{8}$Se$_{13}$., Comment: Accepted by J. Phys.: Condens. Matter