To date, the most widely-studied quantum anomalous Hall insulator (QAHI) platform is achieved by dilute doping of magnetic ions into thin films of the alloyed tetradymite topological insulator (TI) (Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_3$ (BST). In these films, long-range magnetic ordering of the transition metal substituants opens an exchange gap $\Delta$ in the topological surface states, stabilizing spin-polarized, dissipationless edge channels with a nonzero Chern number $\mathcal{C}$. The long-range ordering of the spatially separated magnetic ions is itself mediated by electronic states in the host TI, leading to a sophisticated feedback between magnetic and electronic properties. Here we present a study of the electronic and magnetic response of a BST-based QAHI system to structural tuning via hydrostatic pressure. We identify a systematic closure of the topological gap under compressive strain accompanied by a simultaneous enhancement in the magnetic ordering strength. Combining these experimental results with first-principle calculations we identify structural deformation as a strong tuning parameter to traverse a rich topological phase space and modify magnetism in the magnetically doped BST system.

The research on supercurrent diodes has surged rapidly due to their potential applications in electronic circuits at cryogenic temperatures. To unlock this functionality, it is essential to find supercurrent diodes that can work consistently at zero magnetic field and under ubiquitous stray fields generated in electronic circuits. However, a supercurrent diode with robust field tolerance is currently lacking. Here, we demonstrate a field-resilient supercurrent diode by incorporating a 2D multiferroic material into a Josephson junction, and observed a pronounced supercurrent diode effect at zero magnetic field. More importantly, the supercurrent rectification persists over a wide and bipolar magnetic field range beyond industrial standards for field tolerance. By theoretically modeling a multiferroic Josephson junction, we unveil that the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and multiferroicity underlies the unusual field resilience of the observed diode effect. This work introduces multiferroic Josephson junctions as a new field-resilient superconducting device for cryogenic electronics.

Antiferromagnet is a promising candidate for the next generation spintronic devices, benefiting from its ultrafast dynamics and spontaneous zero stray field. However, the understanding of their ultrafast spin behaviors is lacking due to the challenges of controlling/detecting the quenched net magnetization. Unconventional compensated semiconducting antiferromagnets present strong time-reversal symmetry breaking, spin splitting in the momentum space, and suitable bandgap for optical control/detection. Thus, it is a powerful platform to uncover the ultrafast dynamics of antiferromagnets. Here, we show an exotic wavelength-dependent spin dynamic in the unconventional compensated semiconducting antiferromagnet α-MnTe via time-resolved quadratic magneto-optical Kerr effect measurement, where the probing photon energy of the laser matches its bandgap. This direct excitation and detection of distinct magnon modes reveal varying spin behaviors and time characteristics in a broad temperature range. It originates from the spins triggered at different bands of electronic structures and is depicted in an energy transfer model among electrons, phonons, and magnons. Our study of exotic optical properties in this unconventional semiconducting antiferromagnet fulfills the missing information of spin evolution in the time domain and paves the way for its utilization in ultrafast spintronic devices.

By tuning the superconducting order parameter with an applied magnetic field, we use neutron diffraction to compare the magnetically ordered phases in superconducting and normal states of CeCo0.5Rh0.5In5. At zero applied field, CeCo0.5Rh0.5In5 displays both superconductivity (Tc = 1.3 K) and spatially long-ranged commensurate T1T1 antiferromagnetism [TN = 2.5 K, propagation vector Q = ( 1 2 , 1 2 , 1 2 )]. Neutron spectroscopy fails to measure propagating magnetic excitations from this ground state with only temporally overdamped fluctuations observable. On applying a magnetic field which suppresses superconductivity, we find anisotropic behavior in the static magnetism. When the applied magnetic field is along the crystallographic c axis, no change in the static magnetic response is observable. However, when the field is oriented within the a-b plane, an increase in TN and change in the critical response are measured. At low temperatures in the superconducting phase, the elastic magnetic intensity increases linearly (a | H | ) with small a-b oriented fields. However, this trend is interrupted at intermediate fields where commensurate block TT11 magnetism with propagation vector Q = ( 1 2 , 1 2 , 4 1 ) forms. For large applied fields in the [110] direction which completely suppresses superconductivity, weakly incommensurate magnetic order along L is observed to replace the commensurate response present in the superconducting and vortex phases. We discuss experimental considerations related to this shift in momentum and suggest field- induced incommensurate static magnetism, present in the normal state of superconducting and antiferromagnetic CeCo0.5Rh0.5In5 for a-b plane oriented magnetic fields. We speculate that these field-dependent properties are tied to the field-induced anisotropy associated with the local Ce3+ crystal field environment of the tetragonal "115" structure.

BaNi$_2$As$_2$, a non-magnetic superconductor counterpart to BaFe$_2$As$_2$, has been shown to develop nematic order, multiple charge orders, and a dramatic six-fold enhancement of superconductivity via isovalent chemical substitution of Sr for Ba. Here we present high pressure single-crystal and powder x-ray diffraction measurements of BaNi$_2$As$_2$ to study the effects of tuning lattice density on the evolution of charge order in this system. Single-crystal X-ray experiments track the evolution of the incommensurate (Q=0.28) and commensurate (Q=0.33 and Q=0.5) charge orders, and the tetragonal-triclinic distortion as a function of temperature up to pressures of 10.4 GPa, and powder diffraction experiments at 300 K provide lattice parameters up to 17 GPa. We find that applying pressure to BaNi$_2$As$_2$ produces a similar evolution of structural and charge-ordered phases as found as a function of chemical pressure in Ba$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$Ni$_2$As$_2$ , with coexisting commensurate charge orders appearing on increasing pressure. These phases also exhibit a similar abrupt cutoff at a critical pressure of (9 $\pm$ 0.5) GPa, where powder diffraction experiments indicate a collapse of the tetragonal structure at higher temperatures. We discuss the relationship between this collapsed tetragonal phase and the discontinuous phase boundary observed at the optimal substitution value for superconductivity in Ba$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$Ni$_2$As$_2$

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is characterized by a dissipationless chiral edge state with a quantized Hall resistance at zero magnetic field. Manipulating the QAH state is of great importance in both the understanding of topological quantum physics and the implementation of dissipationless electronics. Here, the QAH effect is realized in the magnetic topological insulator Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2 Te3 (CBST) grown on an uncompensated antiferromagnetic insulator Al-doped Cr2 O3 . Through polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR), a strong exchange coupling is found between CBST and Al-Cr2 O3 surface spins fixing interfacial magnetic moments perpendicular to the film plane. The interfacial coupling results in an exchange-biased QAH effect. This study further demonstrates that the magnitude and sign of the exchange bias can be effectively controlled using a field training process to set the magnetization of the Al-Cr2 O3 layer. It demonstrates the use of the exchange bias effect to effectively manipulate the QAH state, opening new possibilities in QAH-based spintronics.

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are two key ingredients for topological superconductors, which can serve as building blocks of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Adversely, ferromagnetism and superconductivity are typically also two hostile orderings competing to align spins in different configurations, and thus making the material design and experimental implementation extremely challenging. A single material platform with concurrent ferromagnetism and superconductivity is actively pursued. In this paper, we fabricate van der Waals Josephson junctions made with iron-based superconductor Fe(Te,Se), and report the global device-level transport signatures of interfacial ferromagnetism emerging with superconducting states for the first time. Magnetic hysteresis in the junction resistance is observed only below the superconducting critical temperature, suggesting an inherent correlation between ferromagnetic and superconducting order parameters. The 0-π phase mixing in the Fraunhofer patterns pinpoints the ferromagnetism on the junction interface. More importantly, a stochastic field-free superconducting diode effect was observed in Josephson junction devices, with a significant diode efficiency up to 10%, which unambiguously confirms the spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking. Our work demonstrates a new way to search for topological superconductivity in iron-based superconductors for future high Tc fault-tolerant qubit implementations from a device perspective.

Quantum anomalous Hall phases arising from the inverted band topology in magnetically doped topological insulators have emerged as an important subject of research for quantization at zero magnetic fields. Though necessary for practical implementation, sophisticated electrical control of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown quantum anomalous Hall matter have been stymied by growth and fabrication challenges. Here, a novel procedure is demonstrated, employing a combination of thin-film deposition and 2D material stacking techniques, to create dual-gated devices of the MBE-grown quantum anomalous Hall insulator, Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2 Te3 . In these devices, orthogonal control over the field-induced charge density and the electric displacement field is demonstrated. A thorough examination of material responses to tuning along each control axis is presented, realizing magnetic property control along the former and a novel capability to manipulate the surface exchange gap along the latter. Through electrically addressing the exchange gap, the capabilities to either strengthen the quantum anomalous Hall state or suppress it entirely and drive a topological phase transition to a trivial state are demonstrated. The experimental result is explained using first principle theoretical calculations, and establishes a practical route for in situ control of quantum anomalous Hall states and topology.

Measurements of charge pumping in a quantum anomalous Hall device demonstrate that quantized Hall conductance does not require an edge to transport current, paving the way for the realization of other exotic electronic behaviour.

BaNi_2As_2 is a structural analog of the pnictide superconductor BaFe_2As_2, which, like the iron-based superconductors, hosts a variety of ordered phases including charge density waves (CDWs), electronic nematicity, and superconductivity. Upon isovalent Sr substitution on the Ba site, the charge and nematic orders are suppressed, followed by a sixfold enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (T_c). To understand the mechanisms responsible for enhancement of T_c, we present high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of the Ba_1-xSr_xNi_2As_2 series, which agree well with our density functional theory (DFT) calculations throughout the substitution range. Analysis of our ARPES-validated DFT results indicates a Lifshitz transition and reasonably nested electron and hole Fermi pockets near optimal substitution where T_c is maximum. These nested pockets host Ni d_xz/d_yz orbital compositions, which we associate with the enhancement of nematic fluctuations, revealing unexpected connections to the iron-pnictide superconductors. This gives credence to a scenario in which nematic fluctuations drive an enhanced T_c.

In multilayered magnetic topological insulator structures, magnetization reversal processes can drive topological phase transitions between quantum anomalous Hall, axion insulator, and normal insulator states. Here we report an examination of the critical behavior of two such transitions: the quantum anomalous Hall to normal insulator (QAH-NI), and quantum anomalous Hall to axion insulator (QAH-AXI) transitions. By introducing a new analysis protocol wherein temperature dependent variations in the magnetic coercivity are accounted for, the critical behavior of the QAH-NI and QAH-AXI transitions are evaluated over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. Despite the uniqueness of these different transitions, quantized longitudinal resistance and Hall conductance are observed at criticality in both cases. Furthermore, critical exponents were extracted for QAH-AXI transitions occurring at magnetization reversals of two different magnetic layers. The observation of consistent critical exponents and resistances in each case, independent of the magnetic layer details, demonstrates critical behaviors in quantum anomalous Hall transitions to be of electronic rather than magnetic origin. Our finding offers a new avenue for studies of phase transition and criticality in QAH insulators.

1. Nearly ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductivity Authors: S. Ran, C. Eckberg, Q-P. Ding, Y. Furukawa, T. Metz, S. R. Saha, I-L Liu, M. Zic, H. Kim, J-P. Paglione, and N. P. Butch Science, 6454, 365 (2019); DOI: 10.1126/science.aav8645 2. Chiral superconductivity in heavy-fermion metal UTe2 Authors: L. Jiao, S. Howard, S. Ran, Z. Wang, J. O. […]

Recent advances in using topological insulators (TIs) with ferromagnets (FMs) at room temperature have opened an innovative avenue in spin‐orbit torque (SOT) nonvolatile magnetic memory and low dissipation electronics. However, direct integration of TIs with perpendicularly magnetized FM, while retaining an extraordinary charge‐to‐spin conversion efficiency ( > 100%), remains a major challenge. In addition, the indispensable thermal compatibility with modern CMOS technologies has not yet been demonstrated in TI‐based structures. Here, high‐quality integration of a perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB/MgO system with TI through a Mo insertion layer is achieved and efficient current‐induced magnetization switching at ambient temperature is demonstrated. The calibrated energy efficiency of TIs is at least 1 order magnitude larger than those found in heavy metals. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the perpendicular anisotropy of the integrated CoFeB/MgO system and the current‐induced magnetization switching behavior are well‐preserved after annealing at > 350 ° C, offering a wide temperature window for thermal treatments. This thermal compatibility with the modern CMOS back‐end‐of‐line process achieved in these TI‐based structures paves the way toward TI‐based low‐dissipation spintronic applications.

Recent discoveries of charge order and electronic nematic order in the iron-based superconductors and cuprates have pointed towards the possibility of nematic and charge fluctuations playing a role in the enhancement of superconductivity. The Ba1-xSrxNi2As2 system, closely related in structure to the BaFe2As2 system, has recently been shown to exhibit both types of ordering without the presence of any magnetic order. We report single crystal X-ray diffraction, resistance transport measurements, and magnetization of \BaSrLate, providing evidence that the previously reported incommensurate charge order with wavevector $(0,0.28,0)_{tet}$ in the tetragonal state of \BaNi~vanishes by this concentration of Sr substitution together with nematic order. Our measurements suggest that the nematic and incommensurate charge orders are closely tied in the tetragonal state, and show that the $(0,0.33,0)_{tri}$ charge ordering in the triclinic phase of BaNi2As2 evolves to become $(0,0.5,0)_{tri}$ charge ordering at $x$=0.65 before vanishing at $x$=0.71.

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect has been demonstrated in two-dimensional topological insulator systems incorporated with ferromagnetism. However, a comprehensive understanding of mesoscopic transport in submicron QAH devices has not yet been established. Here we fabricated miniaturized QAH devices with channel widths down to 600 nm, where the QAH features are still preserved. A backscattering channel is formed in narrow QAH devices through percolative hopping between 2D compressible puddles. Large resistance fluctuations are observed in narrow devices near the coercive field, which is associated with collective interference between intersecting paths along domain walls when the device geometry is smaller than the phase coherence length L_{ϕ}. Through measurement of size-dependent breakdown current, we confirmed that the chiral edge states are confined at the physical boundary with its width on the order of Fermi wavelength.

Optical control of the magnetic properties in topological insulator systems is an important step in applying these materials in ultrafast optoelectronic and spintronic schemes. In this work, we report the experimental observation of photo-induced magnetization dynamics in the magnetically doped topological insulator (MTI)/antiferromagnet (AFM) heterostructure composed of Cr-(Bi,Sb)2Te3/CrSb. Through proximity coupling to the AFM layer, the MTI displays a dramatically enhanced magnetism, with robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. When subjected to intense laser irradiation, both surface and bulk magnetism of the MTI are weakened by laser-induced heating of the lattice, however, at the surface, the deleterious heat effect is compensated by the strengthening of Dirac-hole-mediated exchange coupling as demonstrated by an unconventional pump-fluence-dependent exchange-bias effect. Through theoretical analyses, the sizes of exchange coupling energies are estimated in the MTI/AFM bilayer structure. The fundamentally different mechanisms supporting the surface and bulk magnetic order in MTIs allow a novel and distinctive photo-induced transient magnetic state with antiparallel spin configuration, which broadens the understanding of the magnetization dynamics of MTIs under ultrashort and intense optical excitation.

In transport, the topological Hall effect (THE) presents itself as nonmonotonic features (or humps and dips) in the Hall signal and is widely interpreted as a sign of chiral spin textures, like magnetic skyrmions. However, when the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is also present, the coexistence of two AHEs could give rise to similar artifacts, making it difficult to distinguish between genuine THE with AHE and two-component AHE. Here, we confirm genuine THE with AHE by means of transport and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy, in which magnetic skyrmions are directly observed, and find that genuine THE occurs in the transition region of the AHE. In sharp contrast, the artifact "THE" or two-component AHE occurs well beyond the saturation of the "AHE component" (under the false assumption of THE + AHE). Furthermore, we distinguish artifact "THE" from genuine THE by three methods: (1) minor loops, (2) temperature dependence, and (3) gate dependence. Minor loops of genuine THE with AHE are always within the full loop, while minor loops of the artifact "THE" may reveal a single loop that cannot fit into the "AHE component". In addition, the temperature or gate dependence of the artifact "THE" may also be accompanied by a polarity change of the "AHE component", as the nonmonotonic features vanish, while the temperature dependence of genuine THE with AHE reveals no such change. Our work may help future researchers to exercise caution and use these methods for careful examination in order to ascertain the genuine THE.

CeAlGe, a proposed type-II Weyl semimetal, orders antiferromagnetically below 5 K. At 2 K, spin-flop and spin-flip transitions to less than 1 mu B/Ce are observed in the M(H) data below 30 kOe, HIIa and b, and 4.3 kOe, HII (110), respectively, indicating a fourfold symmetry of the M(H) data along the principal directions in the tetragonal ab plane with (110) set of easy directions. However, anomalously robust and complex twofold symmetry is observed in the angular dependence of resistivity and magnetic torque data in the magnetically ordered state once the field is swept in the ab plane. This twofold symmetry is independent of temperature and field hystereses and suggests a magnetic phase transition that separates two different magnetic structures in the ab plane. The boundary of this magnetic phase transition and possibly the type of low-field magnetic structure can be tuned by an Al deficiency.

The inelastic scattering length (Ls) is a length scale of fundamental importance in condensed matters due to the relationship between inelastic scattering and quantum dephasing. In quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) materials, the mesoscopic length scale Ls plays an instrumental role in determining transport properties. Here we examine Ls in three regimes of the QAH system with distinct transport behaviors: the QAH, quantum critical, and insulating regimes. Although the resistance changes by five orders of magnitude when tuning between these distinct electronic phases, scaling analyses indicate a universal Ls among all regimes. Finally, mesoscopic scaled devices with sizes on the order of Ls were fabricated, enabling the direct detection of the value of Ls in QAH samples. Our results unveil the fundamental length scale that governs the transport behavior of QAH materials.

In transport, the topological Hall effect (THE) is widely interpreted as a sign of chiral spin textures, like magnetic skyrmions. However, the co-existence of two anomalous Hall effects (AHE) could give rise to similar non-monotonic features or humps, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. Here we demonstrate that the artifact two-component anomalous Hall effect can be clearly distinguished from the genuine topological Hall effect by three methods: 1. Minor loops 2. Temperature dependence 3. Gate dependence. One of the minor loops is a single loop that cannot fit into the full AHE loop under the assumption of AHE+THE. In addition, by increasing the temperature or tuning the gate bias, the emergence of humps is accompanied by a polarity change of the AHE. Using these three methods, one can find the humps are from another AHE loop with a different polarity. Our material is a magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 grown by molecular beam epitaxy, where the presence of the secondary phase MnTe2 on the surface contributes to the extra positive AHE component. Our work may help future researchers to exercise cautions and use these three methods to examine carefully in order to ascertain genuine topological Hall effect.