Nodal-Surface and Flat-Band Driven Large Anomalous Nernst Effect in Epitaxial Ferromagnetic Weyl Metal Fe5Si3

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a large anomalous Nernst effect in epitaxial Fe5Si3 thin films, driven by complex topological band features including Weyl points, nodal lines, and flat bands, with theoretical and experimental agreement confirming the topological origin.

Contribution

It reveals the coexistence of multiple topological band features in Fe5Si3 and their role in enhancing the Nernst response, supported by combined experimental and first-principles analysis.

Findings

Observed a transverse Nernst response exceeding 1.50 μV/K at room temperature.

Detected a giant anomalous Nernst angle of about 0.56.

Identified a sizable topological Nernst signal above room temperature.

Abstract

Magnetic topological materials such as Weyl and Dirac magnets exhibit unconventional electronic properties arising from the interplay between magnetic order and band topology, leading to remarkable thermomagnetic and thermoelectric effects. Here, we investigate the ANE in epitaxial thin films of the Weyl ferromagnet candidate Fe5Si3. A pronounced transverse Nernst response exceeding approximately 1.50 microvolt per kelvin is observed at room temperature, together with a giant anomalous Nernst angle of about 0.56, indicating highly efficient conversion between thermal gradients and transverse electric fields. Beyond the anomalous contribution, a sizable topological Nernst signal of approximately 0.43 microvolt per kelvin persists above room temperature, suggesting the possible presence of real-space Berry curvature associated with nontrivial spin textures. First-principles density functional theory calculations combined with symmetry analysis reveal an unconventional electronic structure in which Weyl nodal lines, nodal surfaces, and nearly flat bands coexist near the Fermi level. This rare concurrence of multiple topological band features produces a strongly enhanced and sharply energy-dependent Berry curvature, which governs both the magnitude and temperature evolution of the observed Nernst response. The close quantitative agreement between calculated anomalous Nernst conductivity and experimental results establishes the topological electronic structure as the dominant origin of the observed thermomagnetic transport, highlighting Fe5Si3 as a chemically simple, low-cost binary topological magnet for exploring both real-space and momentum-space Berry-curvature-driven thermoelectric phenomena.