Berry curvature unravelled by the anomalous Nernst effect in Mn3Ge

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Contributors

Abstract

The discovery of topological quantum materials represents a striking innovation in modern condensed matter physics with remarkable fundamental and technological implications. Their classification has been recently extended to topological Weyl semimetals, i.e., solid-state systems which exhibit the elusive Weyl fermions as low-energy excitations. Here we show that the Nernst effect can be exploited as a sensitive probe for determining key parameters of the Weyl physics, applying it to the noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Ge. This compound exhibits anomalous thermoelectric transport due to enhanced Berry curvature from Weyl points located extremely close to the Fermi level. We establish from our data a direct measure of the Berry curvature at the Fermi level and, using a minimal model of a Weyl semimetal, extract the Weyl point energy and their distance in momentum space.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number085111
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume100
Issue number8
Publication statusPublished - 5 Aug 2019
Peer-reviewedYes