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Large magneto-optical Kerr effect in the non-collinear antiferromagnetic metal Mn<sub>3</sub>Sn

Invited

Abstract

There has been a surge of interest in antiferromagnetic (AF) materials due to their favorable properties for device applications including a vanishingly small stray field, faster spin dynamics, and more abundance in nature compared to their ferromagnetic counterparts. In fact, motivated by these intriguing properties, several breakthroughs have been made: an anisotropic magnetoresistance (even-function response under time-reversal (TR)) for detecting collinear AF ordering [1]. Another breakthrough is an odd-function response under TR in the non-collinear antiferromagnetic metal Mn3Sn such as an anomalous Hall effect (AHE) [2] and anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) [3] at zero magnetic field. Moreover, recent studies have revealed that Mn3Sn is a TR symmetry breaking Weyl metal possessing a large and controllable Berry curvature in momentum space [4].

In this presentation, we will mainly talk about the magneto-optical properties of Mn3Sn [5]. We found that despite a vanishingly small magnetization (~2 mμB/Mn), Mn3Sn exhibits a large zero-field MOKE (~20 mdeg), comparable to that in ferromagnetic metals. Our first-principles calculation has clarified that the ferroic ordering of cluster magnetic octupoles in the AF state causes the MOKE even in its fully compensated AF state. This large MOKE further allows imaging of the octupole domains, which are strongly related to other TR-odd responses induced by the Berry curvature. We will also show that Mn3Sn thin films exhibit the large time-reversal-odd response as well as the bulk Mn3Sn [6]. These findings provide an important step for the further development of spintronics devices using AF materials.

[1] T. Jungwirth et al., Nat. Nanotech. 5, 231 (2016).
[2] S. Nakatsuji, N. Kiyohara, and T. Higo, Nature 527, 212 (2015).
[3] M. Ikhlas, T. Tomita et al., Nat. Phys. 13, 1085 (2017).
[4] K. Kuroda and T. Tomita et al., Nat. Mater. 16, 1090 (2017).
[5] T. Higo et al., Nat. Photon. 12, 73 (2018).
[6] T. Higo et al., APL 113, 202402 (2018).

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Presenters

  • Tomoya Higo

    Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha, ISSP, University of Tokyo

Authors

  • Tomoya Higo

    Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha, ISSP, University of Tokyo

  • Huiyuan Man

    Stanford Univ, Department of Physics, Stanford University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University

  • Daniel B Gopman

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Liang Wu

    Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania

  • Takashi Koretsume

    Tohoku University, Department of Physics, Tohoku University

  • Olaf M Van T Erve

    United States Naval Research Laboratory

  • Yury Kabanov

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Dylan Rees

    University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley and LBL

  • Yufan Li

    Johns Hopkins University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University

  • Michi-To Suzuki

    Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University

  • Shreyas Patankar

    Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

  • Muhammad Ikhlas

    Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo, ISSP, The University of Tokyo, Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha, Institute for Solid State Physics, Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha, ISSP, University of Tokyo

  • Chia-Ling Chien

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University

  • Ryotaro Arita

    Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, University of Tokyo,, RIKEN-CEMS, University of Tokyo

  • Robert D Shull

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Joseph Orenstein

    University of California, Berkeley, physics, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley and LBL

  • Satoru Nakatsuji

    Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha, University of Tokyo, Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo, Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Institute for Solid State Physics, Univ of Tokyo-Kashiwanoha