Tunable anomalous Hall conductivity through volume-wise magnetic competition in a topological kagome magnet.

Magnetic topological phases of quantum matter are an emerging frontier in physics and material science. Along these lines, several kagome magnets have appeared as the most promising platforms. Here, we explore magnetic correlations in the kagome magnet Co3Sn2S2. Using muon spin-rotation, we present evidence for competing magnetic orders in the kagome lattice of this compound. Our results show that while the sample exhibits an out-of-plane ferromagnetic ground state, an in-plane antiferromagnetic state appears at temperatures above 90 K, eventually attaining a volume fraction of 80% around 170 K, before reaching a non-magnetic state. Strikingly, the reduction of the anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) above 90 K linearly follows the disappearance of the volume fraction of the ferromagnetic state. We further show that the competition of these magnetic phases is tunable through applying either an external magnetic field or hydrostatic pressure. Our results taken together suggest the thermal and quantum tuning of Berry curvature induced AHC via external tuning of magnetic order.

Non-Kondo-like electronic structure in the correlated rare-earth hexaboride YbB(6).

We present angle-resolved photoemission studies on the rare-earth-hexaboride YbB(6), which has recently been predicted to be a topological Kondo insulator. Our data do not agree with the prediction and instead show that YbB(6) exhibits a novel topological insulator state in the absence of a Kondo mechanism. We find that the Fermi level electronic structure of YbB(6) has three 2D Dirac cone like surface states enclosing the Kramers's points, while the f orbital that would be relevant for the Kondo mechanism is ∼1 eV below the Fermi level. Our first-principles calculation shows that the topological state that we observe in YbB(6) is due to an inversion between Yb d and B p bands. These experimental and theoretical results provide a new approach for realizing novel correlated topological insulator states in rare-earth materials.

Surface electronic structure of the topological Kondo-insulator candidate correlated electron system SmB6.

The Kondo insulator SmB6 has long been known to exhibit low-temperature transport anomalies whose origin is of great interest. Here we uniquely access the surface electronic structure of the anomalous transport regime by combining state-of-the-art laser and synchrotron-based angle-resolved photoemission techniques. We observe clear in-gap states (up to ~4 meV), whose temperature dependence is contingent on the Kondo gap formation. In addition, our observed in-gap Fermi surface oddness tied with the Kramers' point topology, their coexistence with the two-dimensional transport anomaly in the Kondo hybridization regime, as well as their robustness against thermal recycling, taken together, collectively provide strong evidence for protected surface metallicity with a Fermi surface whose topology is consistent with the theoretically predicted topological Fermi surface. Our observations of systematic surface electronic structure provide the fundamental electronic parameters for the anomalous Kondo ground state of correlated electron material SmB6.

Observation of a topological crystalline insulator phase and topological phase transition in Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te.

A topological insulator protected by time-reversal symmetry is realized via spin-orbit interaction-driven band inversion. The topological phase in the Bi(1-x)Sb(x) system is due to an odd number of band inversions. A related spin-orbit system, the Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te, has long been known to contain an even number of inversions based on band theory. Here we experimentally investigate the possibility of a mirror symmetry-protected topological crystalline insulator phase in the Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te class of materials that has been theoretically predicted to exist in its end compound SnTe. Our experimental results show that at a finite Pb composition above the topological inversion phase transition, the surface exhibits even number of spin-polarized Dirac cone states revealing mirror-protected topological order distinct from that observed in Bi(1-x)Sb(x). Our observation of the spin-polarized Dirac surface states in the inverted Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te and their absence in the non-inverted compounds related via a topological phase transition provide the experimental groundwork for opening the research on novel topological order in quantum devices.