Evidence of Ferromagnetic Clusters and Griffiths Singularity in Magnetic Weyl Semimetal Co$ _{3} $Sn$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $

TL;DR

This study uncovers ferromagnetic clusters and Griffiths singularity in Co3Sn2S2, revealing complex magnetic behavior including short-range ferromagnetism and itinerant ferromagnetism driven by strong spin-orbit coupling.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental evidence of Griffiths phase and anisotropic magnetic properties in Co3Sn2S2, a topological Weyl semimetal, highlighting the complex magnetism in Co-based shandite systems.

Findings

Presence of ferromagnetic clusters above Tc

Observation of Griffiths singularity in susceptibility

Confirmation of itinerant ferromagnetism via Takahashi theory

Abstract

Cobalt based sulphides of compositional formula Co$ _{3} $A$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $ (A = Sn and In) are endowed with frustrated kagome lattice structure and a plethora of novel phenomena determined from the topological band structure. Here-in, we report on the detailed exploration of anisotropic magnetic properties of single crystals of ferromagnetic compound Co$ _{3} $Sn$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $ under magnetic field $H$ applied along the c-axis $(H\parallel c)$ and the ab-plane $(H\parallel ab)$. A low temperature clustered-glassy magnetic behaviour is revealed in field-cooled and zero field-cooled magnetization and memory effect measurement protocols. The sharp downturn and non-linearity observed in the inverse susceptibility above the critical temperature $T _{\text{C}} $ in the paramagnetic region corroborates to the presence of short-range ferromagnetic clusters above $ T _{\text{C}} $ in Co$ _{3} $Sn$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $. The deviation from linear Curie-Weiss behaviour in the paramagnetic state signifies the strong Griffiths singularity in the material. The slow spin dynamics behaviour and zero spontaneous magnetization above $ T _{\text{C}} $ give an evidence of Griffiths phase owing to the ferromagnetic clusters. The Arrott plots derived from magnetization reveal convex type curvature at low fields and linear positive behavior in the high field region, confirming the second order magnetic phase transition in Co$ _{3} $Sn$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $. The Takahashi spin fluctuation theory analysis provides sufficient evidence for itinerant ferromagnetism in Co$ _{3} $Sn$ _{2} $S$ _{2} $. A large magneto-crystalline anisotropy concomitant with a high anisotropy field suggests the dominance of strong spin orbit coupling phenomenon. Our experimental results emphasize an intuitive understanding of the complex nature of magnetism present in Co-based shandite systems.