Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound
Abstract The discovery of topological insulators and semimetals triggered enormous interest in exploring emergent electromagnetic responses in solids. Particular attention has been focused on ternary half-Heusler compounds, whose electronic structure bears analogy to the topological zinc-blende comp...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41982-4 |
| _version_ | 1797558537210036224 |
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| author | Kentaro Ueda Tonghua Yu Motoaki Hirayama Ryo Kurokawa Taro Nakajima Hiraku Saito Markus Kriener Manabu Hoshino Daisuke Hashizume Taka-hisa Arima Ryotaro Arita Yoshinori Tokura |
| author_facet | Kentaro Ueda Tonghua Yu Motoaki Hirayama Ryo Kurokawa Taro Nakajima Hiraku Saito Markus Kriener Manabu Hoshino Daisuke Hashizume Taka-hisa Arima Ryotaro Arita Yoshinori Tokura |
| author_sort | Kentaro Ueda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The discovery of topological insulators and semimetals triggered enormous interest in exploring emergent electromagnetic responses in solids. Particular attention has been focused on ternary half-Heusler compounds, whose electronic structure bears analogy to the topological zinc-blende compounds while also including magnetic rare-earth ions coupled to conduction electrons. However, most of the research in this system has been in band-inverted zero-gap semiconductors such as GdPtBi, which still does not fully exhaust the large potential of this material class. Here, we report a less-studied member of half-Heusler compounds, HoAuSn, which we show is a trivial semimetal or narrow-gap semiconductor at zero magnetic field but undergoes a field-induced transition to a Weyl semimetal, with a negative magnetoresistance exceeding four orders of magnitude at low temperatures. The combined study of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and first-principles calculation suggests that the exchange field from Ho 4f moments reconstructs the band structure to induce Weyl points which play a key role in the strong suppression of large-angle carrier scattering. Our findings demonstrate the unique mechanism of colossal negative magnetoresistance and provide pathways towards realizing topological electronic states in a large class of magnetic half-Heusler compounds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a43c6fe32b5944d2a271e0ac18482575 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-a43c6fe32b5944d2a271e0ac184825752023-11-20T09:59:13ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-10-011411810.1038/s41467-023-41982-4Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compoundKentaro Ueda0Tonghua Yu1Motoaki Hirayama2Ryo Kurokawa3Taro Nakajima4Hiraku Saito5Markus Kriener6Manabu Hoshino7Daisuke Hashizume8Taka-hisa Arima9Ryotaro Arita10Yoshinori Tokura11Department of Applied Physics and Quantum Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of TokyoDepartment of Applied Physics and Quantum Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of TokyoDepartment of Applied Physics and Quantum Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of TokyoDepartment of Applied Physics and Quantum Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of TokyoRIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)Institute of Solid State Physics, University of TokyoRIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)Department of Applied Physics and Quantum Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of TokyoAbstract The discovery of topological insulators and semimetals triggered enormous interest in exploring emergent electromagnetic responses in solids. Particular attention has been focused on ternary half-Heusler compounds, whose electronic structure bears analogy to the topological zinc-blende compounds while also including magnetic rare-earth ions coupled to conduction electrons. However, most of the research in this system has been in band-inverted zero-gap semiconductors such as GdPtBi, which still does not fully exhaust the large potential of this material class. Here, we report a less-studied member of half-Heusler compounds, HoAuSn, which we show is a trivial semimetal or narrow-gap semiconductor at zero magnetic field but undergoes a field-induced transition to a Weyl semimetal, with a negative magnetoresistance exceeding four orders of magnitude at low temperatures. The combined study of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and first-principles calculation suggests that the exchange field from Ho 4f moments reconstructs the band structure to induce Weyl points which play a key role in the strong suppression of large-angle carrier scattering. Our findings demonstrate the unique mechanism of colossal negative magnetoresistance and provide pathways towards realizing topological electronic states in a large class of magnetic half-Heusler compounds.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41982-4 |
| spellingShingle | Kentaro Ueda Tonghua Yu Motoaki Hirayama Ryo Kurokawa Taro Nakajima Hiraku Saito Markus Kriener Manabu Hoshino Daisuke Hashizume Taka-hisa Arima Ryotaro Arita Yoshinori Tokura Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound Nature Communications |
| title | Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound |
| title_full | Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound |
| title_fullStr | Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound |
| title_full_unstemmed | Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound |
| title_short | Colossal negative magnetoresistance in field-induced Weyl semimetal of magnetic half-Heusler compound |
| title_sort | colossal negative magnetoresistance in field induced weyl semimetal of magnetic half heusler compound |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41982-4 |
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