The thermoelectric Nernst effect of solids converts heat flow to beneficial electronic voltages. Here, using a correlated topological semimetal with high carrier mobility $\mu$ in presence of magnetic fluctuations, we demonstrate an enhancement of the Nernst effect close to a magnetic phase transition. A magnetic instability in NdAlSi modifies the carrier relaxation time on 'hotspots' in momentum space, causing a strong band filling dependence of $\mu$. We quantitatively derive electronic band parameters from a novel two-band analysis of the Nernst effect $S_{xy}$, in good agreement with quantum oscillation measurements and band calculations. While the Nernst response of NdAlSi behaves much like conventional semimetals at high temperatures, an additional contribution $\Delta S_{xy}$ from electronic correlations appears just above the magnetic transition. Our work demonstrates the engineering of the relaxation time, or the momentum-dependent self energy, to generate a large Nernst response independent of a material's carrier density, i.e. for metals, semimetals, and semiconductors with large $\mu$.
Magnetic skyrmions, vortex-like topological spin textures, have attracted much attention in terms of both fundamental physics and spintronics applications. Thus far, skyrmions have been observed in thin-film multilayers with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and structurally-chiral magnets with bulk DMI. Recently, bulk-DMI-induced skyrmions have been observed above room temperature in Co-Zn-Mn alloys with a β-Mn-type chiral structure [1]. In most chiral magnets, however, skyrmions exist as a thermodynamically equilibrium state only in a narrow temperature and magnetic field region just below the magnetic transition temperature Tc. The limited region of the stable skyrmions is unfavorable for applications. Here, we focused on β-Mn-type Co9Zn9Mn2 (Tc ~ 400 K) and performed small-angle neutron scattering, magnetic susceptibility and Lorentz transmission electron microscope measurements. We demonstrated that skyrmions persist over almost the whole temperature region below 400 K as a long-lived metastable state by performing a conventional field-cooling process. Once created, metastable skyrmions survive above room temperature after removal of magnetic field [2]. These findings exemplify the topological robustness of the once-created skyrmions and provide a significant step toward applications of skyrmions in bulk chiral magnets. In the presentation, we will discuss the details of the above observations, and also show novel skyrmion states in Co-Zn-Mn alloys with other chemical compositions. [1] Y. Tokunaga et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 7638 (2015). [2] K. Karube et al., Phys. Rev. Mater. 1, 074405 (2017).
Optical properties of aqueous colloidal dispersions of 2D electrolytes, if their aspect ratios are extra-large, can be determined by their orientation preferences. Recently, we reported that a colloidal dispersion of diamagnetic titanate(IV) nanosheets (TiIVNSs), when placed in a magnetic field, is highly anisotropic because TiIVNS anomalously orients its 2D plane orthogonal to the magnetic flux lines due to its large anisotropic magnetic susceptibility. Herein, we report a serendipitous finding that TiIVNSs can be in situ photochemically reduced into a paramagnetic species (TiIV/IIINSs), so that their preference of magnetic orientation changes from orthogonal to parallel. This transition distinctly alters the structural anisotropy and therefore optical appearance of the colloidal dispersion in a magnetic field. We also found that TiIV/IIINSs is autoxidized back to TiIVNSs under non-deaerated conditions. By using an elaborate setup, the dispersion of TiIVNSs serves as an optical switch remotely operable by magnet and light.
We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with a circularly polarized 7-eV laser, and find that the angle-resolved pattern of circular dichroism (CD) for the topological surface state of ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ is dramatically changed with surface aging. Shortly after sample cleaving, the CD pattern exhibits a $\mathrm{sin}(\ensuremath{\phi}$)-like modulation ($\ensuremath{\phi}$ is the Fermi surface angle) reminiscent of the helical spin texture. Intriguingly, this pattern gradually changes with time, and eventually turns into a $\mathrm{sin}(2\ensuremath{\phi})$-like modulation on the aged surface. These two patterns are also revealed in quantum well states with different quantum numbers, indicating that the CD pattern is a valid measure to identify the surface confinement of electrons. Our experiments thus demonstrate the time evolution of electron localization in the topological surface state.
Small angle neutron inelastic scattering measurement has been performed to study the magnon dispersion relation in the field-induced-ferromagnetic phase of the noncentrosymmetric binary compound MnSi. For the magnons propagating parallel or anti-parallel to the external magnetic field, we experimentally confirmed that the dispersion relation is asymmetrically shifted along the magnetic field direction. This magnon dispersion shift is attributed to the relativistic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which is finite in noncentrosymmetric magnets, such as MnSi. The shift direction is found to be switchable by reversing the external magnetic field direction.
