We report on the unusual behavior of the in-plane thermal conductivity κ and torque τ response in the Kitaev-Heisenberg material α-RuCl_{3}. κ shows a striking enhancement with linear growth beyond H=7 T, where magnetic order disappears, while τ for both of the in-plane symmetry directions shows an anomaly at the same field. The temperature and field dependence of κ are far more complex than conventional phonon and magnon contributions, and require us to invoke the presence of unconventional spin excitations whose properties are characteristic of a field-induced spin-liquid phase related to the enigmatic physics of the Kitaev model in an applied magnetic field.
The rapidly expanding class of quantum materials known as topological semimetals (TSMs) displays unique transport properties, including a striking dependence of resistivity on applied magnetic field, that are of great interest for both scientific and technological reasons. So far, many possible sources of extraordinarily large nonsaturating magnetoresistance have been proposed. However, experimental signatures that can identify or discern the dominant mechanism and connect to available theories are scarce. Here we present the magnetic susceptibility (χ), the tangent of the Hall angle (tan θ H ), along with magnetoresistance in four different nonmagnetic semimetals with high mobilities, NbP, TaP, NbSb 2 , and TaSb 2 , all of which exhibit nonsaturating large magnetoresistance (MR). We find that the distinctly different temperature dependences, χ(T), and the values of tan θ H in phosphides and antimonates serve as empirical criteria to sort the MR from different origins: NbP and TaP are uncompensated semimetals with linear dispersion, in which the nonsaturating magnetoresistance arises due to guiding center motion, while NbSb 2 and TaSb 2 are compensated semimetals, with a magnetoresistance emerging from nearly perfect charge compensation of two quadratic bands. Our results illustrate how a combination of magnetotransport and susceptibility measurements may be used to categorize the increasingly ubiquitous nonsaturating large magnetoresistance in TSMs.nonsaturating magnetoresistance | magnetic susceptibility | Weyl semimetals | topological semimetals
Quantum critical points separating weak ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases trigger many novel phenomena. Dynamical spin fluctuations not only suppress the long‐range order, but can also lead to unusual transport and even superconductivity. Combining quantum criticality with topological electronic properties presents a rare and unique opportunity. Here, by means of ab initio calculations and magnetic, thermal, and transport measurements, it is shown that the orthorhombic CoTe2 is close to ferromagnetism, which appears suppressed by spin fluctuations. Calculations and transport measurements reveal nodal Dirac lines, making it a rare combination of proximity to quantum criticality and Dirac topology.
The Fermi surface (FS) is essential for understanding the properties of metals. It can change under both conventional symmetry-breaking phase transitions and Lifshitz transitions (LTs), where the FS, but not the crystal symmetry, changes abruptly. Magnetic phase transitions involving uniformly rotating spin textures are conventional in nature, requiring strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) to influence the FS topology and generate measurable properties. LTs driven by a continuously varying magnetization are rarely discussed. Here we present two such manifestations in the magnetotransport of the kagome magnet YMn6Sn6: one caused by changes in the magnetic structure and another by a magnetization-driven LT. The former yields a 10% magnetoresistance enhancement without a strong SOC, while the latter a 45% reduction in the resistivity. These phenomena offer a unique view into the interplay of magnetism and electronic topology, and for understanding the rare-earth counterparts, such as TbMn6Sn6, recently shown to harbor correlated topological physics.
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