Rare-Earth-Tuned Evolution from d- to f-Orbital Dominance and Giant Anomalous Hall Effect in Topological RGaGe (R = Ce, Pr, Nd) Semimetals

TL;DR

This study investigates RGaGe (R=Ce, Pr, Nd) semimetals, revealing their topological Weyl states, large anomalous Hall effects, and a transition from d- to f-orbital dominance, advancing understanding of topology-magnetism interplay.

Contribution

It uncovers the giant anomalous Hall effect and orbital evolution in RGaGe compounds, linking topological states with magnetic and orbital properties.

Findings

PrGaGe exhibits an anomalous Hall conductivity of 948 Ω^-1 cm^-1 at 2 K.

The topological Weyl semimetal state persists above magnetic ordering temperatures.

NdGaGe shows significant f-orbital involvement, indicating a d- to f-orbital evolution.

Abstract

The family of noncentrosymmetric rare-earth germanides RGaGe (R = Ce, Pr, Nd) provides a rich materials platform to explore the intertwined physics of strong magnetism, electronic correlations, and topological band structures. Through a combination of crystal growth, characterization, and first-principles calculations, we reveal that these compounds exhibit a pronounced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, leading to distinct ground states: RGaGe orders ferromagnetically with moments along the crystallographic c-axis, and shows an antiferromagnetic-like structure in the ab-plane. A key finding is a significantly enhanced intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) compared to their well-known RAlGe counterparts, which even reaches as high as 948 {\Omega}-1 cm-1 at 2 K in PrGaGe. Our theoretical analysis predicts that this AHC originates from a robust Weyl semimetallic state driven by inversion symmetry breaking, where Weyl points near the Fermi level couple strongly to the magnetic order. Importantly, this topological state persists above the magnetic ordering temperature, confirming its intrinsic electronic origin. Our calculation also reveals that, while the near-Fermi-level states in CeGaGe and PrGaGe are dominated by d-orbital contributions, NdGaGe exhibits significant f-orbital involvement, signaling a progressive evolution from d- to f-orbital dominated topology. These results establish the RGaGe system as a tunable platform for systematically extending the RAlGe-related family, showcasing a large anomalous Hall response and orbital evolution near the Fermi level, and advancing the understanding of the interplay between topology and magnetism in quantum materials.