A magnetic topological semimetal Sr1-yMn1-zSb2 (y, z < 0.1)

J Y Liu; J Hu; Q Zhang; D Graf; H B Cao; S M A Radmanesh; D J Adams; Y L Zhu; G F Cheng; X Liu; W A Phelan; J Wei; M Jaime; F Balakirev; D A Tennant; J F DiTusa; I Chiorescu; L Spinu; Z Q Mao

doi:10.1038/nmat4953

A magnetic topological semimetal Sr_1-yMn_1-zSb₂ (y, z < 0.1)

Nat Mater. 2017 Sep;16(9):905-910. doi: 10.1038/nmat4953. Epub 2017 Jul 24.

Authors

J Y Liu¹, J Hu¹, Q Zhang^{2

3}, D Graf⁴, H B Cao³, S M A Radmanesh⁵, D J Adams⁵, Y L Zhu¹, G F Cheng^{1

6}, X Liu¹, W A Phelan², J Wei¹, M Jaime⁷, F Balakirev⁷, D A Tennant³, J F DiTusa², I Chiorescu^{4

8}, L Spinu⁵, Z Q Mao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70018, USA.
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
³ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
⁴ National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA.
⁵ Department of Physics and Advanced Materials Research Institute, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA.
⁶ Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China.
⁷ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.

PMID: 28740190
DOI: 10.1038/nmat4953

Abstract

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 Sr_1-yMn_1-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 304 K < T < 565 K, but a canted antiferromagnetic order with a ferromagnetic component for T < 304 K. The combination of relativistic fermion behaviour and ferromagnetism in Sr_1-yMn_1-zSb₂ offers a rare opportunity to investigate the interplay between relativistic fermions and spontaneous TRS breaking.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.