No Arabic abstract
Neutron diffraction and magnetic susceptibility studies of a polycrystalline SrCr$_2$As$_2$ sample reveal that this compound is an itinerant G-type antiferromagnet below the N${rm acute{e}}$el temperature $T_{textrm N}$ = 590(5) K with the Cr magnetic moments aligned along the tetragonal $c$ axis. The system remains tetragonal to the lowest measured temperature ($sim$12 K). The lattice parameter ratio $c/a$ and the magnetic moment saturate at about the same temperature below $sim$ 200 K, indicating a possible magnetoelastic coupling. The ordered moment, $mu=1.9(1)~mu_{rm B}$/Cr, measured at $T = 12$ K, is significantly reduced compared to its localized value ($4~mu_{rm B}$/Cr) due to the itinerant character brought about by the hybridization between the Cr $3d$ and As $4p$ orbitals.
We report the discovery of a novel giant magnetoresistance (GMR) phenomenon in a family of BaMn$_{2}$Pn$_{2}$ antiferromagnets (Pn stands for P, As, Sb, and Bi) with a parity-time symmetry. The resistivities of these materials are reduced by $60$ times in magnetic fields ($vec{H}$s), thus yielding the GMR of about $-98%$. The GMR changes systematically along with the Pn elements, hinting that its origin is the spin orbit coupling (SOC) and/or $d$-$p$ orbital hybridization. A positive MR component emerging on top of the negative GMR at low temperatures suggests an orbital-sensitive magnetotransport as $vec{H}$ suppresses the conduction of the electron-like carriers in the $d$-like band but enhances those of hole-like ones in the $d$-$p$ hybridized band. The anisotropy of the GMR reveals that the electrical conductivity is extremely sensitive to the minute changes in the direction of the antiferromagnetic moments induced by the parity-time breaking $vec{H}$, which seems to be associated with a magnetoelectric effect in the dynamic regime of conduction electrons. We attribute the observed GMR to the non-trivial low energy band of BMPns, which is governed by the parity-time symmetry and an magnetic hexadecapole ordering.
We investigated the anisotropic magnetic properties of CePd$_2$As$_2$ by magnetic, thermal and electrical transport studies. X-ray diffraction confirmed the tetragonal ThCr$_2$Si$_2$-type structure and the high-quality of the single crystals. Magnetisation and magnetic susceptibility data taken along the different crystallographic directions evidence a huge crystalline electric field (CEF) induced Ising-type magneto-crystalline anisotropy with a large $c$-axis moment and a small in-plane moment at low temperature. A detailed CEF analysis based on the magnetic susceptibility data indicates an almost pure $langlepm5/2 rvert$ CEF ground-state doublet with the dominantly $langlepm3/2 rvert$ and the $langlepm1/2 rvert$ doublets at 290 K and 330 K, respectively. At low temperature, we observe a uniaxial antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition at $T_N=14.7$ K with the crystallographic $c$-direction being the magnetic easy-axis. The magnetic entropy gain up to $T_N$ reaches almost $Rln2$ indicating localised $4f$-electron magnetism without significant Kondo-type interactions. Below $T_N$, the application of a magnetic field along the $c$-axis induces a metamagnetic transition from the AFM to a field-polarised phase at $mu_0H_{c0}=0.95$ T, exhibiting a text-book example of a spin-flip transition as anticipated for an Ising-type AFM.
CaFe$_2$As$_2$ has been synthesized and found to form in the tetragonal, ThCr$_2$Si$_2$ structure with lattice parameters $a = 3.912(68) AA$ and $c = 11.667(45) AA$. Upon cooling through 170 K, CaFe$_2$As$_2$ undergoes a first order, structural phase transition to a low temperature, orthorhombic phase with a $2 - 3$ K range of hysteresis and coexistence. This transition is clearly evident in microscopic, thermodynamic and transport measurements. CaFe$_2$As$_2$ is the third member of the AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A = Ba, Sr, Ca) family to exhibit such a dramatic phase transition and is a promising candidate for studies of doping induced superconductivity.
Topological insulator with antiferromagnetic order can serve as an ideal platform for the realization of axion electrodynamics. In this paper, we report a systematic study of the axion topological insulator candidate EuIn$_2$As$_2$. A linear energy dispersion across the Fermi level confirms the existence of the proposed hole-type Fermi pocket. Spin-flop transitions occur with magnetic fields applied within the $ab$-plane while are absent for fields parallel to the $c$-axis. Anisotropic magnetic phase diagrams are observed and the orientation of the ground magnetic moment is found to be within the $ab$-plane. The magnetoresistivity for EuIn$_2$As$_2$ behaves non-monotonic as a function of field strength. It exhibits angular dependent evolving due to field-driven and temperature-driven magnetic states. These results indicate that the magnetic states of EuIn$_2$As$_2$ strongly affect the transport properties as well as the topological nature.
We use inelastic neutron scattering to study energy and wave vector dependence of spin fluctuations in SrCo$_2$As$_2$, derived from SrFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ iron pnictide superconductors. Our data reveals the coexistence of antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations at wave vectors $textbf{Q}_{rm AF}$=(1,0) and $textbf{Q}_{rm FM}$=(0,0)/(2,0), respectively. By comparing neutron scattering results with those of dynamic mean field theory calculation and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments, we conclude that both AF and FM spin fluctuations in SrCo$_2$As$_2$ are closely associated with a flat band of the $e_g$ orbitals near the Fermi level, different from the $t_{2g}$ orbitals in superconducting SrFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$. Therefore, Co-substitution in SrFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ induces a $t_{2g}$ to $e_g$ orbital switching, and is responsible for FM spin fluctuations detrimental to the singlet pairing superconductivity.