Here by combining a symmetry-based analysis with numerical computations we predict a new kind of magnetic ordering - antichiral ferromagnetism. The relationship between chiral and antichiral magnetic order is conceptually similar to the relationship between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order. Without loss of generality, we focus our investigation on crystals with full tetrahedral symmetry where chiral interaction terms - Lifshitz invariants - are forbidden by symmetry. However, we demonstrate that leading chirality-related term leads to nontrivial smooth magnetic textures in the form of helix-like segments of alternating opposite chiralities. The unconventional order manifests itself beyond the ground state by stabilizing excitations such as domains and skyrmions in an antichiral form.
Quantum materials with strong transport responses to disparate physical quantities are of great fundamental significance and may hold technological potentials. The interplay between interactions and topology drive such responses through the effects of spontaneous symmetry breaking and the associated domain configurations on quantum transport. Here we provide a comprehensive description of the magnetism of Mn3Ge, an antiferromagnetic kagomebased semimetal with room temperature transport anomalies associated with topologically protected Weyl nodes. Using polarized neutron diffraction, we show th…
We investigate the magnetic symmetry of the topological antiferromagnetic material Mn$_3$Ge by using torque measurements. Below the Neel temperature, detailed angle-dependent torque measurements were performed on Mn$_3$Ge single crystals in directions parallel and perpendicular to the Kagome basal plane. The out-of plane torque data exhibit $\pm\sinθ$ and $\sin2θ$ behaviors, of which the former results from the spontaneous ferromagnetism within the basal plane and the latter from the in- and out-of-plane susceptibility anisotropy. The reversible component of the in-plane torque exhibits $\sin6…
We study quantum spin systems with a proper combination of geometric frustration, spin-orbit coupling and ferromagnetism. We argue that such a system is likely to be in a chiral spin state, a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state for bosonic spin degrees of freedom. The energy scale of the bosonic FQH state is of the same order as the spin-orbit coupling and ferromagnetism --- overall much higher than the energy scale of FQH states in semiconductors.
Chiral-antichiral pairs of non-Abelian Hall states, like the Pfaffian, Read-Rezayi and NASS states, can be used to model two-dimensional time-reversal invariant topological insulators. Their stability was shown to be associated to the presence of a Z_2 anomaly and characterized by the same Z_2 index introduced for free fermion and Abelian systems. In this work, we continue the stability analysis by providing the form of time-reversal invariant interactions that gap the non-Abelian edge excitations. Our approach is based on the description of non-Abelian states as projections of corresponding "…
The chiral helimagnet, $Cr_{1/3}NbS_{2}$, hosts exotic spin textures, whose influence on the magneto-transport properties, make this material an ideal candidate for future spintronic applications. To date, the interplay between macroscopic magnetic and transport degrees of freedom is believed to result from a reduction in carrier scattering following spin order. Here, we present electronic structure measurements through the helimagnetic transition temperature, $T_{C}$ that challenges this view by showing a Fermi surface comprised of strongly hybridized Nb- and Cr- derived electronic states, an…
Electrons in moiré flat band systems can spontaneously break time reversal symmetry, giving rise to a quantized anomalous Hall effect. Here we use a superconducting quantum interference device to image stray magnetic fields in one such system composed of twisted bilayer graphene aligned to hexagonal boron nitride. We find a magnetization of several Bohr magnetons per charge carrier, demonstrating that the magnetism is primarily orbital in nature. Our measurements reveal a large change in the magnetization as the chemical potential is swept across the quantum anomalous Hall gap consistent with …
We study ferromagnetism and its stability in twisted bilayer graphene. We work with a Hubbard-like interaction that corresponds to the screened Coulomb interaction in a well-defined limit where the Thomas-Fermi screening length $l_\text{TF}$ is much larger than monolayer graphene's lattice spacing $l_g \ll l_\text{TF}$ and much smaller than the Moiré super lattice's spacing $ l_\text{TF} \ll l_{\text{Moiré}}$. We show that in the perfectly flat band "chiral" limit and at filling fractions $\pm 3/4$, the saturated ferromagnetic (spin and valley polarized) states are ideal ground states candidat…
Chiral antiferromagnets are currently considered for broad range of applications in spintronics, spin-orbitronics and magnonics. In contrast to the established approach relying on materials screening, the anisotropic and chiral responses of low-dimensional antifferromagnets can be tailored relying on the geometrical curvature. Here, we consider an achiral, anisotropic antiferromagnetic spin chain and demonstrate that these systems possess geometry-driven effects stemming not only from the exchange interaction but also from the anisotropy. Peculiarly, the anisotropy-driven effects are complemen…
Doped divalent hexaborides such as $Sr_{1-x}La_xB_6$ exhibit high \tc ferromagnetism. We isolate a degenerate pair of $2p$-orbitals of boron with two valence electrons, invoke electron correlation and Hund coupling, to suggest that the undoped state is better viewed as a spin-1 Mott insulator; it is predicted to be a type of 3d Haldane gap phase with a spin gap $\sim 0.1 eV$, much smaller than the charge gap of $ > 1.0 eV$ seen in ARPES. The experimentally seen high \tc `ferromagnetism' is argued to be a complex magnetic order in disguise - either a canted 6-sublattice AFM ($\approx 120^0$) or…
Recent experiments have pointed to a chiral p-wave-like superconductivity in epitaxial Bi/Ni bilayers that are spontaneously time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB), making it a promising platform for exploring physics useful for topologically protected quantum computing. Quite intriguingly, evidence has emerged that in non-epitaxial Bi/Ni bilayers, superconductivity arises due to the formation of NiBi3, which has been reported to host coexisting ferromagnetic and superconducting orders at the surface. We perform high resolution surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) measurements using a Sag…
Bilayer Moiré structures are a highly tunable laboratory to investigate the physics of strongly correlated electron systems. Moiré transition metal dichalcogenides at low-energies, in particular, are believed to be described by a single narrow band Hubbard model on a triangular lattice with spin-orbit coupling. Motivated by recent experimental evidence for superconductivity in twisted bilayer materials, we investigate the possible superconducting pairings in a two-dimensional single band Rashba-Hubbard model. Using a random-phase approximation in the presence of nearest and next-nearest neighb…
We have reinvestigated the magnetic properties of the classical metallic helimagnet MnP by magnetization and neutron scattering experiments. Our neutron scattering results indicate that the previously reported magnetic structure in the low-temperature (LT) helimagnetic phase (T < 47K) should be modified to an alternately tilted helimagnetic structure pro- duced by the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction. In the intermediate temperature (IT) range between the LT helimagnetic phase and the high-temperature (HT) ferromagnetic phase along the c-axis, 47K < T < 282K, we have found a weak ferromagnetic…
When interacting spins in condensed matter order ferromagnetically, their ground state wave function is topologically trivial. Nonetheless, in two dimensions, the ferromagnetic state can support spin excitations with nontrivial topology, an exotic state known as topological magnon insulator (TMI). Here, we theoretically unveil and numerically confirm a novel ferromagnetic state in three dimensions dubbed second-order TMI, whose hallmarks are excitations at its hinges, where facets intersect. Since ferromagnetism naturally comes with broken time-reversal symmetry, the hinge magnons are chiral, …
Monolayer graphene in a strong magnetic field exhibits quantum Hall states at filling fractions $ν= 0$ and $ν= \pm 1$ that are not explained within a picture of noninteracting electrons. We propose that these states arise from interaction-induced chiral symmetry-breaking orders. We argue that when the chemical potential is at the Dirac point, weak on-site repulsion supports an easy-plane antiferromagnet state, which simultaneously gives rise to ferromagnetism oriented parallel to the magnetic field direction, whereas for $|ν|=1$ easy-axis antiferromagnet and charge-density-wave orders coexist.…
Studies on two-dimensional electron systems in a strong magnetic field first revealed the quantum Hall (QH) effect, a topological state of matter featuring a finite Chern number (C) and chiral edge states. Haldane later theorized that Chern insulators with integer QH effects could appear in lattice models with complex hopping parameters even at zero magnetic field. The ABC-trilayer graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (TLG/hBN) moiré superlattice provides an attractive platform to explore Chern insulators because it features nearly flat moiré minibands with a valley-dependent electrically tunable …
A phenomenological theory of magnetic states in noncentrosymmetric tetragonal antiferromagnets is developed, which has to include homogeneous and inhomogeneous terms (Lifshitz-invariants) derived from Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya couplings. Magnetic properties of this class of antiferromagnets with low crystal symmetry are discussed in relation to its first known members, the recently detected compounds Ba2CuGe2O7 and K2V3O8. Crystallographic symmetry and magnetic ordering in these systems allow the simultaneous occurrence of chiral inhomogeneous magnetic structures and weak ferromagnetism. New types…
Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity in UTe$_2$, we analyze the stability and nodal structure of various triplet superconducting order parameters. Using a combination of symmetry group-theoretical analysis, phenomenological Landau free energy and weak-coupling BCS theory, we show that chiral nonunitary superconducting order can be stabilized on the border of ferromagnetism in UTe$_2$, even in the absence of long-range magnetic order. We further perform first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the so-called "small" Fermi surface, excluding the contribut…
