No Arabic abstract
We report an infrared spectroscopy study of the axion topological insulator candidate EuIn$_2$As$_2$ for which the Eu moments exhibit an A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below $T_N simeq 18 mathrm{K}$. The low energy response is composed of a weak Drude peak at the origin, a pronounced infrared-active phonon mode at 185 cm$^{-1}$ and a free carrier plasma edge around 600 cm$^{-1}$. The interband transitions start above 800 cm$^{-1}$ and give rise to a series of weak absorption bands at 5,000 and 12,000 cm$^{-1}$ and strong ones at 20,000, 27,500 and 32,000 cm$^{-1}$. The AFM transition gives rise to pronounced anomalies of the charge response in terms of a cusp-like maximum of the free carrier scattering rate around $T_N$ and large magnetic splittings of the interband transitions at 5,000 and 12,000 cm$^{-1}$. The phonon mode at 185 cm$^{-1}$ has also an anomalous temperature dependence around $T_N$ which suggests that it couples to the fluctuations of the Eu spins. The combined data provide evidence for a strong interaction amongst the charge, spin and lattice degrees of freedom.
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 have performed Raman scattering investigations on the high energy magnetic excitations in a BiFeO$_3$ single crystal as a function of both temperature and laser excitation energy. A strong feature observed at 1250 cm$^{-1}$ in the Raman spectra has been previously assigned to two phonon overtone. We show here that its unusual frequency shift with the excitation energy and its asymmetric temperature dependent Fano lineshape reveal a strong coupling to magnetic excitations. In the same energy range, we have also identified the two-magnon excitation with a temperature dependence very similar to $alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ hematite.
A layered triangular lattice with spin-1/2 ions is an ideal platform to explore highly entangled exotic states like quantum spin liquid (QSL). Here, we report a systematic in-field neutron scattering study on a perfect two-dimensional triangular-lattice antiferromagnet, CsYbSe$_2$, a member of the large QSL candidate family rare-earth chalcogenides. The elastic neutron scattering measured down to 70 mK shows that there is a short-range 120$^{circ}$ magnetic order at zero field. In the field-induced ordered states, the spin-spin correlation lengths along the $c$ axis are relatively short, although the heat capacity results indicate long-range magnetic orders at 3 T $-$ 5 T. The inelastic neutron scattering spectra evolve from highly damped continuum-like excitations at zero field to relatively sharp spin wave modes at the plateau phase. Our extensive large-cluster density-matrix renormalization group calculations with a Heisenberg triangular-lattice nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic model reproduce the essential features of the experimental spectra, including continuum-like excitations at zero field, series of sharp magnons at the plateau phase as well as two-magnon excitations at high energy. This work presents comprehensive experimental and theoretical overview of the unconventional field-induced spin dynamics in triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet and thus provides valuable insight into quantum many-body phenomena.
By using the cluster perturbation theory, we investigate the effects of the local electron-phonon interaction in the quantum spin Hall topological insulator described by the half-filled Kane-Mele model on an honeycomb lattice. Starting from the topological non trivial phase, where the minimal gap is located at the two inequivalent Dirac points of the Graphene, $text{K}$ and $text{K}$, we show that the coupling with quantum phonons induces a topological-trivial quantum phase transition through a gap closing and reopening in the $text{M}$ point of the Brillouin zone. The average number of fermions in this point turns out to be a direct indicator of the quantum transition pointing out a strong hybridization between the two bare quasiparticle bands of the Kane-Mele model. By increasing the strength of charge-lattice coupling, the phonon Greens propagator displays a two peak structure: the one located at the lowest energy exhibits a softening that is maximum around the topological transition. Numerical simulations provide also evidence of several kinks in the quasiparticle dispersion caused by the coupling of the electrons with the bosonic lattice mode.
The higher order topological insulator (HOTI) has enticed enormous research interests owing to its novelty in supporting gapless states along the hinges of the crystal. Despite several theoretical predictions, enough experimental confirmation of HOTI state in crystalline solids is still lacking. It has been well known that interplay between topology and magnetism can give rise to various magnetic topological states including HOTI and Axion insulator states. Here using the high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) combined with the first-principles calculations, we report a systematic study on the electronic band topology across the magnetic phase transition in EuIn2As2 which possesses an antiferromagnetic ground state below 16 K. Antiferromagnetic EuIn2As2 has been predicted to host both the Axion insulator and HOTI phase. Our experimental results show the clear signature of the evolution of the topological state across the magnetic transition. Our study thus especially suited to understand the interaction of higher order topology with magnetism in materials.