Colossal magnetoresistance in a nonsymmorphic antiferromagnetic insulator

DOI: 10.1038/s41535-020-00256-8

Authors: Priscila Rosa (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Yuanfeng Xu (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics) , Marein Rahn (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Jean Souza (UNICAMP) , Satya Kushwaha (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Larissa Veiga (University College London) , Alessandro Bombardi (Diamond Light Source) , Sean Thomas (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Marc Janoschek (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Eric Bauer (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Mun Chan (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Zhijun Wang (Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) , Joe Thompson (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Neil Harrison (Los Alamos National Laboratory) , Pascoal Pagliuso (UNICAMP) , Andrei Bernevig (Princeton University) , Filip Ronning (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Npj Quantum Materials , VOL 5

State: Published (Approved)
Published: July 2020
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 18991

Abstract: Here we investigate antiferromagnetic Eu5In2Sb6, a nonsymmorphic Zintl phase. Our electrical transport data show that Eu5In2Sb6 is remarkably insulating and exhibits an exceptionally large negative magnetoresistance, which is consistent with the presence of magnetic polarons. From ab initio calculations, the paramagnetic state of Eu5In2Sb6 is a topologically nontrivial semimetal within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), whereas an insulating state with trivial topological indices is obtained using a modified Becke−Johnson potential. Notably, GGA + U calculations suggest that the antiferromagnetic phase of Eu5In2Sb6 may host an axion insulating state. Our results provide important feedback for theories of topological classification and highlight the potential of realizing clean magnetic narrow-gap semiconductors in Zintl materials.

Journal Keywords: Electronic properties and materials; Topological insulators

Diamond Keywords: Semiconductors

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I16-Materials and Magnetism

Documents:
s41535-020-00256-8.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Material Sciences Quantum Materials Multiferroics Physics Hard condensed matter - electronic properties Magnetism

Technical Tags:

Spectroscopy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS)