Doping Topological Dirac Semimetal with magnetic impurities: electronic structure of Mn-doped Cd$_3$As$_2$

TL;DR

This study investigates how magnetic impurities, specifically Mn doping, transform the electronic structure of Cd$_3$As$_2$ from a Dirac to a Weyl topological semimetal, revealing that Mn acts similarly to an external magnetic field.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that Mn doping induces Weyl points in Cd$_3$As$_2$ and shows that its electronic structure can be mimicked by applying an external magnetic field, providing new insights into band structure tuning.

Findings

Mn doping splits Dirac points into Weyl points.

Electronic structure of Mn-doped Cd$_3$As$_2$ resembles that under an external magnetic field.

Magnetic field orientation affects conductivity properties.

Abstract

The prospect of transforming a Dirac topological semimetal (TSM) into a Weyl TSM phase, following doping by magnetic impurities, is central to TSM applications. The magnetic field from polarized $d$ levels of magnetic impurities produces a field with a sharp local structure. To what extent magnetic impurities act in the same manner as an applied field and what are the effects of such a field on the electronic structure of a Dirac TSM is the subject of this paper. We present electronic structure calculations of bulk Cd$_3$As$_2$ with substitutional doping of Mn impurities in the dilute alloy range. Quasi-particle $GW$ (QS$GW$) ab-initio electronic structure calculations are used in conjunction with $k \cdot p$ model Hamiltonian calculations. As expected, we observe the splitting of the Dirac points into pairs of Weyl points following the doping with Mn. We also show that the electronic structure of Mn-doped Cd$_3$As$_2$ can be emulated by the electronic structure of pristine Cd$_3$As$_2$ with an appropriate external magnetic field. Some properties of the conductivity of bulk Cd$_3$As$_2$ for different magnetic field orientations are also investigated. Our results inform future opportunities for unique device functionality based on band structure tuning not found in conventional magnetic Weyl TSM.