Giant and anisotropic many-body spin–orbit tunability in a strongly correlated kagome magnet

Jia-Xin Yin, Songtian S. Zhang, Hang Li, Kun Jiang, Guoqing Chang, Bingjing Zhang, Biao Lian, Cheng Xiang, Ilya Belopolski, Hao Zheng, Tyler A. Cochran, Su-Yang Xu, Guang Bian, Kai Liu, Tay-Rong Chang, Hsin Lin, Zhong-Yi Lu, Ziqiang Wang, Shuang Jia, Wenhong Wang and M. Zahid Hasan ()
Additional contact information
Jia-Xin Yin: Princeton University
Songtian S. Zhang: Princeton University
Hang Li: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kun Jiang: Boston College
Guoqing Chang: Princeton University
Bingjing Zhang: Renmin University of China
Biao Lian: Princeton University
Cheng Xiang: Peking University
Ilya Belopolski: Princeton University
Hao Zheng: Princeton University
Tyler A. Cochran: Princeton University
Su-Yang Xu: Princeton University
Guang Bian: Princeton University
Kai Liu: Renmin University of China
Tay-Rong Chang: National Cheng Kung University
Hsin Lin: Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica
Zhong-Yi Lu: Renmin University of China
Ziqiang Wang: Boston College
Shuang Jia: Peking University
Wenhong Wang: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
M. Zahid Hasan: Princeton University

Nature, 2018, vol. 562, issue 7725, 91-95

Abstract: Abstract Owing to the unusual geometry of kagome lattices—lattices made of corner-sharing triangles—their electrons are useful for studying the physics of frustrated, correlated and topological quantum electronic states1–9. In the presence of strong spin–orbit coupling, the magnetic and electronic structures of kagome lattices are further entangled, which can lead to hitherto unknown spin–orbit phenomena. Here we use a combination of vector-magnetic-field capability and scanning tunnelling microscopy to elucidate the spin–orbit nature of the kagome ferromagnet Fe3Sn2 and explore the associated exotic correlated phenomena. We discover that a many-body electronic state from the kagome lattice couples strongly to the vector field with three-dimensional anisotropy, exhibiting a magnetization-driven giant nematic (two-fold-symmetric) energy shift. Probing the fermionic quasi-particle interference reveals consistent spontaneous nematicity—a clear indication of electron correlation—and vector magnetization is capable of altering this state, thus controlling the many-body electronic symmetry. These spin-driven giant electronic responses go well beyond Zeeman physics and point to the realization of an underlying correlated magnetic topological phase. The tunability of this kagome magnet reveals a strong interplay between an externally applied field, electronic excitations and nematicity, providing new ways of controlling spin–orbit properties and exploring emergent phenomena in topological or quantum materials10–12.

Keywords: Kagome Lattice; Strong Spin-orbit Coupling (SOC); Energy Shift; Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES); Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0502-7

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