Highly tunable magnetism in a candidate topological semimetal

Scientific Achievement

We discovered that the magnetism in the candidate Dirac semimetal LaMnxSb2 is extremely sensitive to the Mn

highly tunable magnetism
The candidate topological semimetal LaMnxSb2 has exceptionally tunable magnetism spanning six different ordered states.

occupancy, with six possible antiferromagnetic phases and two crystal structures.

Significance and Impact

The highly tunable physical properties of LaMnxSb2 make it an excellent system for studying the effects of disorder on magnetic intermetallic compounds and may offer control over its topological physics.

Research Details

  • Developed a synthetic route to produce single crystals of LaMnxSb2 with targeted compositions between x = 0.74-0.97.
  • Mapped out the compositional dependence of the magnetic phase diagram, discovering exceptionally rich behavior.
  • Used neutron diffraction to determine high x ≥ 0.93 magnetic structures.
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T. J. Slade, A. Sapkota, J. M. Wilde, Q. Zhang, L. L. Wang, S. H. Lapidus, J. Schmidt, T. Heitmann, S. L. Bud’ko, and P. C. Canfield. Phys. Rev. Mat. 114203, vol 7, issue 11, (2023), (editor’s choice). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.114203

Work was conducted at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and at the Advanced Photon Source Beamline 11-BM at Argonne National Laboratory.