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Register a new userUnconventional transverse transport above and below the magnetic transition temperature in Weyl semimetal EuCd$_2$As$_2$
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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 EuCd$_2$As$_2$. Unconventional contribution to the anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst effects were observed both above and below the magnetic transition temperature of EuCd$_2$As$_2$, indicating the existence of significant Berry curvature. EuCd$_2$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 EuCd$_2$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.
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We use resonant elastic x-ray scattering to determine the evolution of magnetic order in EuCd$_2$As$_2$ below $T_textrm{N}=9.5$,K, as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. We find an A-type antiferromagneticstructure with in-plane magnetic moments, and observe dramatic magnetoresistive effects associated with field-induced changes in the magnetic structure and domain populations. Our textit{ab initio} electronic structure calculations indicate that the Dirac dispersion found in the nonmagnetic Dirac semimetal Cd$_3$As$_2$ is also present in EuCd$_2$As$_2$, but is gapped for $T < T_textrm{N}$ due to the breaking of $C_3$ symmetry by the magnetic structure.
Weyl fermions as emergent quasiparticles can arise in Weyl semimetals (WSMs) in which the energy bands are nondegenerate, resulting from inversion or time-reversal symmetry breaking. Nevertheless, experimental evidence for magnetically induced WSMs is scarce. Here, using photoemission spectroscopy, we observe that the degeneracy of Bloch bands is already lifted in the paramagnetic phase of EuCd$_2$As$_2$. We attribute this effect to the itinerant electrons experiencing quasistatic and quasi-long-range ferromagnetic fluctuations. Moreover, the spin nondegenerate band structure harbors a pair of ideal Weyl nodes near the Fermi level. Hence, we show that long-range magnetic order and the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry are not an essential requirement for WSM states in centrosymmetric systems, and that WSM states can emerge in a wider range of condensed-matter systems than previously thought.
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.
We have investigated the magnetic correlations in the candidate Weyl semimetals EuCd$_2Pn_2$, ($Pn$=As, Sb) by resonant elastic X-ray scattering (REXS) at the Eu$^{2+}$ $M_5$ edge. The temperature and field dependence of the diffuse scattering of EuCd$_2$As$_2$ provide direct evidence that the Eu moments exhibit slow ferromagnetic correlations well above the N{e}el temperature. By contrast, the diffuse scattering in the paramagnetic phase of isostructural EuCd$_2$Sb$_2$ is at least an order of magnitude weaker. The FM correlations present in the paramagnetic phase of EuCd$_2$As$_2$ could create short-lived Weyl nodes.
Resonant elastic X-ray scattering (REXS) at the Eu $M_5$ edge reveals an antiferromagnetic structure in layered EuCd$_2$Sb$_2$ at temperatures below $T_textrm{N}$ = 7.4 K with a magnetic propagation vector of $(0,0,1/2)$ and spins in the basal plane. Magneto-transport and REXS measurements with an in-plane magnetic field show that features in the magnetoresistance are correlated with changes in the magnetic structure induced by the field. Ab initio electronic structure calculations predict that the observed spin structure gives rise to a gapped Dirac point close to the Fermi level with a gap of $Delta E sim$0.01 eV. The results of this study indicate that the Eu spins are coupled to conduction electron states near the Dirac point.
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