Anisotropic magnetoelastic response in the magnetic Weyl semimetal Co_3Sn_2S_2

Co_3Sn_2S_2 is a recently identified magnetic Weyl semimetal in Shandite compounds. Upon cooling, Co_3Sn_2S_2 undergoes a ferromagnetic transition with c-axis polarized moments(~0.3 μB/Co) around T_C= 175 K, followed by another magnetic anomaly around T_A≈ 140 K. A large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect is observed in the magnetic state below T_C with a maximum of anomalous Hall angle near T_A. Here, we report an elastic neutron scattering on the crystalline lattice of Co_3Sn_2S_2 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 T_C, and as it is further strengthened below T_A, it becomes nonmonotonic against the field between T_A and T_C because of the competition from another in-plane magnetic order. These results suggest that a magnetic field can be employed to tune the Co_3Sn_2S_2 lattice and its related topological states.     

Investigation of point-contact Andreev reflection on magnetic Weyl semimetal Co_3Sn_2S_2

Magnetic Weyl semimetals(WSMs) with broken time-reversal symmetry(TRS) hosting topological band structures are expected to provide an ideal platform for investigating topological superconductivity and spintronics. However, the experimental verification of magnetic WSMs is very challenging. Very recently, the kagome magnet Co_3Sn_2S_2 was confirmed to be a magnetic WSM by both angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy and consequently has become the focus of great attention. This paper reports a point-contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy(PCARS) investigation on the(001) surface and the side surface of the Co_3Sn_2S_2 single crystals, respectively. The measurements from the sample's(001) and side surfaces provide experimental evidence for transport spin polarization in the Co_3Sn_2S_2 magnetic WSM. Furthermore, the superconducting proximity effect in the Co_3Sn_2S_2 single crystal is successfully detected. The point-contact spectra(PCS) along the in-plane direction cannot be well fitted by theoretical models based on s-wave pairing, indicating that possible triplet p-wave superconductivity may be triggered at the interface, which paves the way for the future exploration of the topological superconductivity and Majorana states in broken TRS WSMs.     

Electronic structures of vacancies in Co_3Sn_2S_2

Co_3Sn_2S_2 has attracted a lot of attention for its multiple novel physical properties, including topological nontrivial surface states, anomalous Hall effect, and anomalous Nernst effect. Vacancies, which play important roles in functional materials, have attracted increasing research attention. In this paper, by using density functional theory calculations, we first obtain band structures and magnetic moments of Co_3Sn_2S_2 with exchange–correlation functionals at different levels. It is found that the generalized gradient approximation gives the positions of Weyl points consistent with experiments in bulk Co_3Sn_2S_2. We then investigate the electronic structures of defects on surfaces with S and Sn terminations which have been observed in experiments. The results show that the single sulfur vacancy on the S-terminated surface introduces localized bond states inside the bandgap near the Fermi level. For di-and tri-sulfur vacancies, the localized defect states hybridize with neighboring ones, forming bonding states as well as anti-bonding states. The Sn vacancy on the Sn-terminated surface also introduces localized bond states, which are merged with the valence bands. These results provide a reference for future experimental investigations of vacancies in Co_3Sn_2S_2.     

Micromagnetic phase transitions and spin wave excitations in a ferromagnetic stripe

Magnetic excitations of micrometer-wide ferromagnetic stripes subjected to a transverse applied field have been measured between 1 and 20 GHz. The complexity of the observed response is attributed to the spatially nonuniform equilibrium spin distribution. This one is modeled analytically and numerically, which allows one to distinguish two micromagnetic phases governing the ground state. The nucleation-related phase transitions are evidenced by soft modes, while the different observed resonances are attributed to spin wave modes localized in the two phases and at their interface.     

Critical behavior and magnetocaloric effect in magnetic Weyl semimetal candidate Co_(2-x)ZrSn

We investigate the critical exponents and magnetocaloric effect of Co_(2-x)ZrSn polycrystal. The Co_(2-x)ZrSn undergoes a second-order ferromagnetism phase transition around the Curie temperature of Tc ～280 K. The critical behavior in the vicinity of the magnetic phase transition has been investigated by using modified Arrott plot and Kouvel–Fisher methods.The obtained critical exponents, β, γ, and δ can be well described by the scaling theory. The determined exponents of Co_(2-x)ZrSn obey the mean-field model with a long-range magnetic interaction. In addition, the maximum magnetic entropy change-?Sm ax M of Co_(2-x)ZrSn is about 0.57 J·kg~(-1)·K~(-1) and the relative cooling power(RCP) is 14.68 J·kg~(-1) at 50 kOe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m~(-1)).     

Spin excitations in granular structures with ferromagnetic nanoparticles

Spin excitations and relaxation in a granular structure which contains metallic ferromagnetic nanoparticles in an insulating amorphous matrix are studied in the framework of the s-d exchange model. As the d system, we consider the granule spins, and the s system is represented by localized electrons in the amorphous matrix. In the one-loop approximation with respect to the s-d exchange interaction for a diagram expansion of the spin Green’s function, the spin excitation spectrum is found, which consists of spin-wave excitations in the granules and of polarized spin excitations. In polarized spin excitations, a change in the granule spin direction is accompanied by an electron transition with a spin flip between two sublevels of a split localized state in the matrix. We considered polarized spin relaxation (relaxation of the granule spins occurring by means of polarized spin excitations) determined by localized deep energy states in the matrix and the thermally activated electronic cloud of the granule. It is found that polarized spin relaxation is efficient over a wide frequency range. Estimates made for structures with cobalt granules showed that this relaxation could be observed in centimetric, millimetric, and submillimetric wavelength ranges.     

Hexagonal wurtzite MnO in ferromagnetic state: A magnetic topological spin-gapless Weyl semimetal

Magnetic topological materials have attracted increasingly attentions in recent years due to their exotic electronic behaviors emerging from the couplings of topological, magnetic, and crystalline symmetries. In this work, based on the first-principles calculations, we propose that hexagonal wurtzite MnO is a magnetic topological spin-gapless semi-half-metal with two pairs of type-I Weyl fermions near the Fermi level in ferromagnetic state, which is a promising candidate material in spintronic and piezoelectric applications. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC), it hosts one triple degeneracy point (TP) in the irreducible Brillouin zone. Owing to weak SOC, the TP splits into two type-I Weyl points that are very close to each other. The Fermi arc surface states connecting the projected Weyl points with opposite chirality are observed. Our results therefore provide a wonderful platform to study the interplay of magnetism and topology.     

Dipole-exchange spin excitations in a thin ferromagnetic nanoshell

In this paper spin excitations in spherical ferromagnetic nanoshells are investigated. The magnetic dipoledipole interaction, the exchange interaction and the anisotropy effects are taken into consideration. For such spin excitations, an equation for the magnetic potential perturbation is obtained. For a nanoshell that is thin compared to its size, the dispersion relation for nonzero spin excitation modes and the only possible frequency for zero-mode spin excitations are found. Limitations on the mode numbers are derived.     

Spin–lattice relaxation phenomena in the magnetic state of a suggested Weyl semimetal CeAlGe

ABSTRACT

In this work, we report the results of DC susceptibility, AC susceptibility and related technique, resistivity, transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance and heat capacity on polycrystalline magnetic semimetal CeAlGe. This compound undergoes antiferromagnetic type ordering around 5.2 K (T¹). Under the application of external magnetic fields, parallel alignment of magnetic moments is favoured above 0.5?T. At low field and temperature, frequency and AC field amplitude response of AC susceptibility indicate the presence of spin–lattice relaxation phenomena. The observation of spin–lattice interaction suggests the presence of the Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction which is associated with inversion and time-reversal symmetry breaking. Additionally, the presence of negative and asymmetric longitudinal magnetoresistance indicates anomalous velocity contribution to the magnetoresistance due to the Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction which is further studied by heat capacity.     

Spin wave excitations in amorphous itinerant ferromagnet

The Izuyama, Kim and Kubo theory of spin waves in crystalline itinerant ferromagnets is extended to the amorphous itinerant ferromagnetic materials. The qualitative features of this theory are similar to that of the generalized Landau-Lifshitz theory discussed by Henderson and de Graaf.     

Spin wave and vortex excitations of superfluid 3He-A in parallel-plate geometry

Quantized vortices with half-integer circulation, which are forbidden from existing in a conventional superfluid because of the single valueness of the wave function, are theoretically predicted to exist in superfluid 3He-A if the order parameters l over and d over form l over perpendicular d over texture. To form the l over perpendicular d over texture, we confined the superfluid between parallel plates with a 12.5 microm gap and applied a magnetic field of H=26.7 mT perpendicular to the plates to take NMR and orient d over perpendicular to l over. NMR spectra exhibit a negative-shift peak which probes that the uniform l over perpendicular d over texture is realized in our cell and show a new satellite signal under rotation. The rotation dependence of the satellite signal is interpreted that a Fréedericksz transition of l over texture is induced by rotation above 1.0 rad/s and vortices start to appear above 1.8 rad/s.     

Giant topological Hall effect of ferromagnetic kagome metal Fe_3Sn_2

We present the experiment observation of a giant topological Hall effect(THE)in a frustrated kagome bilayer magnet Fe_3Sn_2.The negative topologically Hall resistivity appears when the field is below 1.3 T and it increases with increasing temperature up to 300 K.Its maximum absolute value reaches～2.01μ?·cm at 300 K and 0.76 T.The origins of the observed giant THE can be attributed to the coexistence of the field-induced skyrmion state and the non-collinear spin configuration,possibly related to the magnetic frustration interaction in Fe_3Sn_2.     

Crystal-field excitations in ferromagnetic NdAl2

By means of neutron inealastic scattering we measured the dispersion of magnetic excitations in ferromagnetic NdAl₂ at 4.2 K for wave-vectors along the 〈001〉 direction. 3 acoustic and 3 optic branches and partly a fourth optic branch have been resolved. The experiments are well described in terms of a cubic crystal field and an isotropic Heisenberg exchange interaction.     

Spin conductance and spin filtering in ferromagnetic semiconductor quantum point contacts

By combining the spin dependent transport properties of the ferromagnetic semiconductors with the basic physics of the quantum point contacts, we investigate the spin polarized transport through ferromagnetic semiconductor quantum point contacts. We find that the spin conductance strongly depends on the spin orientation, the magnitude of the spin splitting energy and the shape of the cross sections of the point contacts.     

Quantized spin excitations in a ferromagnetic microstrip from microwave photovoltage measurements

Quantized spin excitations in a single ferromagnetic microstrip have been measured using the microwave photovoltage technique. Several kinds of spin wave modes due to different contributions of the dipole-dipole and the exchange interactions are observed. Among them are a series of distinct dipole-exchange spin wave modes, which allow us to determine precisely the subtle spin boundary condition. A comprehensive picture for quantized spin excitations in a ferromagnet with finite size is thereby established. The dispersions of the quantized spin wave modes have two different branches separated by the saturation magnetization.     

Solitary excitations in one-dimensional ferromagnetic spin chains with biquadratic exchange interaction

By using the traveling wave method, the solutions of the elliptic function wave and the solitary wave are obtained in a ferromagnetic spin chain with a biquadratic exchange interaction, a single ion anisotropic interaction and an anisotropic nearest neighbour interaction. The effects of the biquadratic exchange interaction and the single ion anisotropic interaction on the properties (width, peak and stability) of the soliton are investigated. It is also found that the effects vary with the strengths of these interactions.     

Magnetic excitations in the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe2

We report that the uniform magnetization is not conserved in the magnetic excitation spectrum of UGe2. The measured spectrum is therefore different from that in d-electron ferromagnetic metals in a way that would facilitate magnetically mediated superconductivity.     

Theory of spin-flip excitations across the ferromagnetic stoner gap in electron energy loss

We present calculations based on a simplified band model of the spin-flip cross section expected in electron energy loss in a ferromagnetic metal. It is shown how direct production of Stoner excitations can lead to observable features in both spin polarized and ordinary EELS spectra. A strong primary electron energy dependence is predicted for all these spin-flip features, in agreement with recent experiments.