Spontaneous Chirality Flipping in an Orthogonal Spin-Charge Ordered Topological Magnet

Miao, H.; Bouaziz, J.; Fabbris, G.; Meier, W. R.; Yang, F. Z.; Li, H. X.; Nelson, C.; Vescovo, E.; Zhang, S.; Christianson, A. D.; Lee, H. N.; Zhang, Y.; Batista, C. D.; Blügel, S.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.14.011053

Title: Spontaneous Chirality Flipping in an Orthogonal Spin-Charge Ordered Topological Magnet

Journal Article · 20 March 2024 · Physical Review. X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.011053 · OSTI ID:2326257

;

; Yang, F. Z.; Li, H. X.; Nelson, C.; Vescovo, E.; Zhang, S.;

; Lee, H. N.; Zhang, Y.;

;

The asymmetric distribution of chiral objects with opposite chirality is of great fundamental interest ranging from molecular biology to particle physics. In quantum materials, chiral states can build on inversion-symmetry-breaking lattice structures or emerge from spontaneous magnetic ordering induced by competing interactions. Although the handedness of a chiral state can be changed through external fields, a spontaneous chirality flipping has yet to be discovered. We present experimental evidence of chirality flipping via changing temperature in a topological magnet ${EuAl}_{4}$ , which features orthogonal spin density waves (SDW) and charge density waves (CDW). Using circular dichroism of Bragg peaks in the resonant magnetic x-ray scattering, we find that the chirality of the helical SDW flips through a first-order phase transition with modified SDW wavelength. Intriguingly, we observe that the CDW couples strongly with the SDW and displays a rare commensurate-to-incommensurate transition at the chirality flipping temperature. Combining with first-principles calculations and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, our results support a Fermi surface origin of the helical SDW with intertwined spin, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom in ${EuAl}_{4}$ . Our results reveal an unprecedented spontaneous chirality flipping and lay the groundwork for a new functional manipulation of chirality through momentum-dependent spin-charge-lattice interactions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 2326257

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2329584; OSTI ID: 2340732

Journal Information:: Physical Review. X, Journal Name: Physical Review. X Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN PRXHAE; ISSN 2160-3308

Publisher:: American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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