No Arabic abstract
The two-dimensional kagome lattice hosts Dirac fermions at its Brillouin zone corners K and K, analogous to the honeycomb lattice. In the density functional theory electronic structure of ferromagnetic kagome metal Fe$_3$Sn$_2$, without spin-orbit coupling we identify two energetically split helical nodal lines winding along $z$ in the vicinity of K and K resulting from the trigonal stacking of the kagome layers. We find that hopping across A-A stacking introduces a layer splitting in energy while that across A-B stacking controls the momentum space amplitude of the helical nodal lines. The effect of spin-orbit coupling is found to resemble that of a Kane-Mele term, where the nodal lines can either be fully gapped to quasi-two-dimensional massive Dirac fermions, or remain gapless at discrete Weyl points depending on the ferromagnetic moment orientation. Aside from numerically establishing Fe$_3$Sn$_2$ as a model Dirac kagome metal, our results provide insights into materials design of topological phases from the lattice point of view, where paradigmatic low dimensional lattice models often find realizations in crystalline materials with three-dimensional stacking.
Polarization- and temperature-dependent Raman data along with theoretical simulations are presented for the Kagome ferromagnet Fe_3Sn_2. Eight out of nine expected phonon modes were identified. The experimental energies compare well with those from the simulations. The analysis of the line widths indicates relatively strong phonon-phonon coupling in the range 0.1 to 1. The temperature-dependent frequencies of three A_{1g} modes show weak anomalies at approximately 100 K. In contrast, the linewidths of all phonon modes follow the conventional exponential broadening up to room temperature except for the softest A_{1g} mode, whose width exhibits a kink close to 100 K and becomes nearly constant for T > 100 K. These features are indicative of a spin reorientation taking place in the temperature range above 100 K which might arise from spin-phonon coupling. The low-energy part of the electronic continuum in E_g symmetry depends strongly on temperature. The possible reasons include particle-hole excitation tracking the resistivity, a spin-dependent gap or spin fluctuations.
The topological nodal-line semimetals (NLSMs) possess a loop of Dirac nodes in the k space with linear dispersion, different from the point nodes in Dirac/Weyl semimetals. While the quantum transport associated with the topologically nontrivial Dirac fermions has been investigated extensively, features uniquely associated with the extended nodal lines remain to be demonstrated. Here, we investigate the quantum oscillations (QOs) in the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS, with the electron transport along the c axis, and magnetic field rotating in the ab plane. The extremal orbits identified through the field orientation dependence of the QOs interlock with the nodal line, leading to a nonzero Berry phase. Most importantly, the Berry phase shows a significant dependence on the magnetic field orientation, which we argue to be due to the finite spin-orbit coupling gap. Our results demonstrate the importance of the spin-orbit coupling and the nodal-line dispersion in understanding the quantum transport of NLSMs.
The kagome lattice is a two-dimensional network of corner-sharing triangles known as a platform for exotic quantum magnetic states. Theoretical work has predicted that the kagome lattice may also host Dirac electronic states that could lead to topological and Chern insulating phases, but these have evaded experimental detection to date. Here we study the d-electron kagome metal Fe$_3$Sn$_2$ designed to support bulk massive Dirac fermions in the presence of ferromagnetic order. We observe a temperature independent intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity persisting above room temperature suggestive of prominent Berry curvature from the time-reversal breaking electronic bands of the kagome plane. Using angle-resolved photoemission, we discover a pair of quasi-2D Dirac cones near the Fermi level with a 30 meV mass gap that accounts for the Berry curvature-induced Hall conductivity. We show this behavior is a consequence of the underlying symmetry properties of the bilayer kagome lattice in the ferromagnetic state with atomic spin-orbit coupling. This report provides the first evidence for a ferromagnetic kagome metal and an example of emergent topological electronic properties in a correlated electron system. This offers insight into recent discoveries of exotic electronic behavior in kagome lattice antiferromagnets and may provide a stepping stone toward lattice model realizations of fractional topological quantum states.
Based on first-principles calculations, we predict a new two-dimensional ferromagnetic material that exhibits exotic Fermi surface topology. We show that monolayer hexagonal indium carbide ({em h}-InC) is thermodynamically and dynamically stable, and it energetically favors the ferromagnetic ordering of spins. The perfectly planar geometry in two dimensions, together with ferromagnetism, gives rise to a unique opportunity to encounter intriguing electronic properties, captured in the Fermi surface and band topology. We show that multiple nodal lines coexist in momentum space, accompanied by the electron and hole pockets that touch each other linearly at the nodal lines. Inclusion of spin-orbit coupling enriches the magnetic and electronic properties of {em h}-InC. Spin-orbit coupling leads to an easy-plane type magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and the nodal lines can be tuned into topological nodal points, contingent upon the magnetization direction. Symmetry analysis and a tight-binding model are provided to explain the nodal structure of the bands. Our findings suggest {em h}-InC as a new venue for supporting carbon-based magnetism and exotic band topology in two dimensions.
Nodal line semimetals (NLSs) have attracted broad interest in current research. In most of existing NLSs, the intrinsic properties of nodal lines are greatly destroyed because nodal lines usually suffer sizable gaps induced by non-negligible spin-orbit coupling (SOC). In this work,we propose the topological nodal line electrides (TNLEs), which achieve electronic structures of nodal lines and electrides simultaneously, provide new insight on designing excellent NLSs nearly immune from SOC. Since the states near the Fermi level are most contributed by nonnucleus-bounded interstitial electrons, nodal lines in TNLEs manifest extremely small SOCinduced gap even possessing heavy elements. Especially, we propose the family of A2B (A = Ca, Sr, Ba; B= As, Sb, Bi) materials are realistic TNLEs with negligible SOC-induced gaps, which can play as excellent platforms to study the intrinsic properties of TNLEs