Singular Angular Magnetoresistance in a Magnetic Nodal Semimetal

Published

June 26, 2019

Author(s)

T. Suzuki, L. Savary, J.-P. Liu, Jeffrey W. Lynn, L. Balents, J. G. Checkelsky

Abstract

Transport coefficients are incisive experimental probes of the low energy, long wavelength properties of correlated electron systems often useful for mapping hidden phases with distinct symmetries. Here we report a new transport signature of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the magnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlGe in the form of singular angular magnetoresistance (SAMR). This angular response approaching 1000% radian^-1 is confined along the high symmetry axes with a full width at half maximum less than 1°, significantly sharper than previously observed in bulk magnets. The SAMR phenomena is explained theoretically as an effect due to controllable high resistance domain walls, arising as a consequence of magnetic point group symmetry breaking strongly coupled to a nearly nodal electronic structure. A theoretical model, based on teh crystallography and magnetic anisotropy of CeAlGe, agrees well with the phase diagram mapped experimentally by SAMR, and predicts a spin structure and magnetic phase boundaries consistent with corresponding neutron scattering and thermodynamic measurements, respectively. This study offers a blueprint for engineering magnetic materials with unprecedented angular sensitivity by lattice and site symmetries.

Citation

Science

Volume

365

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Weyl Semimetal, Magnetoresistance, Antiferromagnetic long range order, neutron diffraction

Citation

Suzuki, T. , Savary, L. , Liu, J. , Lynn, J. , Balents, L. and Checkelsky, J. (2019), Singular Angular Magnetoresistance in a Magnetic Nodal Semimetal, Science, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=925265 (Accessed November 6, 2025)