Evolution of Magnetism in Magnetic Topological Semimetal NdSb$_x$Te$_{2-x+\delta}$

TL;DR

This study investigates how varying Sb-Te composition in NdSb$_x$Te$_{2-x+\delta}$ affects its magnetic properties, revealing non-monotonic changes in magnetic ordering, moment reorientation, and tunable magnetic phases, which are promising for topological physics applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of magnetic evolution in NdSb$_x$Te$_{2-x+\delta}$ with Sb-Te substitution, highlighting tunable magnetic structures and phases.

Findings

Non-monotonic magnetic ordering temperature with composition

Reorientation of magnetic moments from in-plane to out-of-plane

Magnetic phases tunable by magnetic field, temperature, and composition

Abstract

Magnetic topological semimetals LnSbTe (Ln = Lanthanide) have attracted intensive attention because of the presence of interplay between magnetism, topological, and electron correlations depending on the choices of magnetic Ln elements. Recently, varying Sb-Te composition has been found to effectively control the electronic and magnetic states in LnSbxTe$_{2-x}$. With this motivation, we report the evolution of magnetic properties with Sb-Te substitution in NdSb$_x$Te$_{2-x+\delta}$. Our work reveals the interesting non-monotonic change in magnetic ordering temperature with varying composition stoichiometry. In addition, reducing the Sb content x drives the reorientation of moments from in-plane (ab-plane) to out-of-plane (c-axis) direction that results in the distinct magnetic structures for two end compounds NdTe$_2$ ($x = 0$) and NdSbTe ($x = 1$). Furthermore, the moment orientation in NdSb$_x$Te$_{2-x+\delta}$ is also found to be strongly tunable upon application of weak magnetic field, leading to rich magnetic phases depending on the composition stoichiometry, temperature, and magnetic field. Such strong tuning of magnetism in this material establishes it as a promising platform for investigating tunable topological states and correlated topological physics.