Physical Review X (Aug 2021)

Evidence for a Magnetic-Field-Induced Ideal Type-II Weyl State in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator Mn(Bi_{1−x}Sb_{x})_{2}Te_{4}

  • Seng Huat Lee,
  • David Graf,
  • Lujin Min,
  • Yanglin Zhu,
  • Hemian Yi,
  • Samuel Ciocys,
  • Yuanxi Wang,
  • Eun Sang Choi,
  • Rabindra Basnet,
  • Arash Fereidouni,
  • Aaron Wegner,
  • Yi-Fan Zhao,
  • Katrina Verlinde,
  • Jingyang He,
  • Ronald Redwing,
  • V. Gopalan,
  • Hugh O. H. Churchill,
  • Alessandra Lanzara,
  • Nitin Samarth,
  • Cui-Zu Chang,
  • Jin Hu,
  • Z. Q. Mao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.031032
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
p. 031032

Abstract

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The discovery of Weyl semimetals (WSMs) has fueled tremendous interest in condensed matter physics. The realization of WSMs requires the breaking of either inversion symmetry (IS) or time-reversal symmetry (TRS). WSMs can be categorized into type-I and type-II WSMs, which are characterized by untilted and strongly tilted Weyl cones, respectively. Type-I WSMs with breaking of either IS or TRS and type-II WSMs with solely broken IS have been realized experimentally, but a TRS-breaking type-II WSM still remains elusive. In this article, we report transport evidence for a TRS-breaking type-II WSM observed in the intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator Mn(Bi_{1−x}Sb_{x})_{2}Te_{4} under magnetic fields. This state is manifested by the electronic structure transition caused by the spin-flop transition. The transition results in an intrinsic anomalous Hall effect and negative c-axis longitudinal magnetoresistance attributable to the chiral anomaly in the ferromagnetic phases of lightly hole-doped samples. Our results establish a promising platform for exploring the underlying physics of the long-sought, ideal TRS-breaking type-II WSM.