Unravelling the origin of the peculiar transition in the magnetically ordered phase of the Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic phase transitions in Co3Sn2S2, revealing a genuine transition at 128 K due to small canting of magnetic moments, clarified through magnetization measurements and density-functional theory calculations.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the magnetic transitions in Co3Sn2S2, identifying the true transition at 128 K and explaining its origin through magnetic moment canting, resolving previous ambiguities.

Findings

Genuine transition at 128 K with anisotropic magnetic response

Magnetic moments are canted by about 1.5 degrees from the c-axis

Second transition arises from in-plane canting of magnetic moments

Abstract

Recent discovery of topologically non-trivial behavior in Co3Sn2S2 stimulated a notable interest in this itinerant ferromagnet (Tc = 174 K). The exact magnetic state remains ambiguous, with several reports indicating the existence of a second transition in the range 125 -- 130 K, with antiferromagnetic and glassy phases proposed to coexist with the ferromagnetic phase. Using detailed angle-dependent DC and AC magnetization measurements on large, high-quality single crystals we reveal a highly anisotropic behavior of both static and dynamic response of Co3Sn2S2. It is established that many observations related to sharp magnetization changes when B || c are influenced by the demagnetization factor of a sample. On the other hand, a genuine transition has been found at Tp = 128 K, with the magnetic response being strictly perpendicular to the c-axis and several orders of magnitude smaller than for B || c. Calculations using density-functional theory indicate that the ground state magnetic structure consist of magnetic moments canted away from the c-axis by a small angle (~ 1.5deg). We argue that the second transition originates from a small additional canting of moments within the kagome plane, with two equivalent orientations for each spin.