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Title: Atomically precise engineering of spin–orbit polarons in a kagome magnetic Weyl semimetal

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [6]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Guangdong (China); OSTI
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  3. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel)
  4. Renmin University of China, Beijing (China)
  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  6. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Guangdong (China)
  7. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)

Atomically precise defect engineering is essential to manipulate the properties of emerging topological quantum materials for practical quantum applications. However, this remains challenging due to the obstacles in modifying the typically complex crystal lattice with atomic precision. Here, we report the atomically precise engineering of the vacancy-localized spin–orbit polarons in a kagome magnetic Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2, using scanning tunneling microscope. We achieve the step-by-step repair of the selected vacancies, leading to the formation of artificial sulfur vacancies with elaborate geometry. We find that that the bound states localized around these vacancies undergo a symmetry dependent energy shift towards Fermi level with increasing vacancy size. As the vacancy size increases, the localized magnetic moments of spin–orbit polarons become tunable and eventually become itinerantly negative due to spin–orbit coupling in the kagome flat band. These findings provide a platform for engineering atomic quantum states in topological quantum materials at the atomic scale.

Research Organization:
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Research Corporation for Science Advancement Cottrell SEED; National Natural Science Foundation of China
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-99ER45747
OSTI ID:
2471818
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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