Covalency, correlations, and interlayer interactions governing the magnetic and electronic structure of Mn3Si2Te6
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Date
11/08/2023Author
Grant ID
2016-006
UF120096
714193
IEC\R2\222041
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Mn3Si2Te6 is a rare example of a layered ferrimagnet. It has recently been shown to host a colossal angular magnetoresistance as the spin orientation is rotated from the in- to out-of-plane direction, proposed to be underpinned by a topological nodal-line degeneracy in its electronic structure. Nonetheless, the origins of its ferrimagnetic structure remain controversial, while its experimental electronic structure, and the role of correlations in shaping this, are little explored to date. Here, we combine x-ray and photoemission-based spectroscopies with first-principles calculations, to probe the elemental-selective electronic structure and magnetic order in Mn3Si2Te6. Through these, we identify a marked Mn-Te hybridization, which weakens the electronic correlations and enhances the magnetic anisotropy. We demonstrate how this strengthens the magnetic frustration in Mn3Si2Te6, which is key to stabilizing its ferrimagnetic order, and find a crucial role of both exchange interactions extending beyond nearest-neighbours and anti-symmetric exchange in dictating its ordering temperature. Together, our results demonstrate a powerful methodology of using experimental electronic structure probes to constrain the parameter space for first-principles calculations of magnetic materials, and through this approach, reveal a pivotal role played by covalency in stabilizing the ferrimagnetic order in Mn3Si2Te6.
Citation
Bigi , C , Qiao , L , Liu , C , Barone , P , Hatnean , M C , Siemann , G-R , Achinuq , B , Mayoh , D A , Vinai , G , Polewczyk , V , Dagur , D , Mazzola , F , Bencok , P , Hesjedal , T , van der Laan , G , Ren , W , Balakrishnan , G , Picozzi , S & King , P D C 2023 , ' Covalency, correlations, and interlayer interactions governing the magnetic and electronic structure of Mn 3 Si 2 Te 6 ' , Physical Review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics , vol. 108 , no. 5 , 054419 . https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.054419
Publication
Physical Review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1098-0121Type
Journal article
Description
Funding: We gratefully acknowledge support from The Leverhulme Trust via Grant No. RL-2016-006, and the European Research Council (through the QUESTDO project, 714193). P.B. and S.P. acknowledge financial support from the Italian Ministry for Research and Education through PRIN-2017 projects ‘Tuning and understanding Quantum phases in 2D materials—Quantum 2D’ (IT-MIUR grant No. 2017Z8TS5B) and ‘TWEET: Towards ferroelectricity in two dimensions’ (IT-MIUR grant No. 2017YCTB59), respectively. P.K. and S.P. acknowledge support from the Royal Society through the International Exchange grant IEC\R2\222041. MCH, DM and GB acknowledge financial support by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through grant EP/T005963/1. The research leading to this result has been supported by the project CALIPSOplus under Grant Agreement 730872 from the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020. G.V., V.P., D.D. and F.M. acknowledge financial support from the Nanoscience Foundry and Fine Analysis (NFFA-MUR Italy Progetti Internazionali) project (www.trieste.NFFA.eu).Collections
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