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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Route towards Dirac and Weyl antiferromagnetic spintronics

Jairo SinovaTomas JungwirthLibor ŠMejkal

subject

PhysicsSpintronicsDirac (software)Order (ring theory)02 engineering and technologyQuantum Hall effect021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyCondensed Matter Physics01 natural sciencesTheoretical physics0103 physical sciencesHomogeneous spaceQuasiparticleAntiferromagnetismCondensed Matter::Strongly Correlated ElectronsGeneral Materials Science010306 general physics0210 nano-technologyQuantum

description

Topological quantum matter and spintronics research have been developed to a large extent independently. In this Review we discuss a new role that the antiferromagnetic order has taken in combining topological matter and spintronics. This occurs due to the complex microscopic symmetries present in antiferromagnets that allow, e.g., for topological relativistic quasiparticles and the newly discovered N\'{e}el spin-orbit torques to coexist. We first introduce the concepts of topological semimetals and spin-orbitronics. Secondly, we explain the antiferromagnetic symmetries on a minimal Dirac semimetal model and the guiding role of $\textit{ab initio}$ calculations in predictions of examples of Dirac, and Weyl antiferromagnets: SrMnBi$_{\text{2}}$, CuMnAs, and Mn$_{\text{3}}$Ge. Lastly, we illustrate the interplay of Dirac quasiparticles, topology and antiferromagnetism on: (i) the experimentally observed quantum Hall effect in EuMnBi$_{\text{2}}$, (ii) the large anomalous Hall effect in Mn$_{\text{3}}$Ge, and (iii) the theoretically predicted topological metal-insulator transition in CuMnAs.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.201700044