Spin order and dynamics in the topological rare-earth germanide semimetals

Abstract

The REAl(Si,Ge) (RE = rare earth) family, known to break both the inversion- and time-reversal symmetries, represents one of the most suitable platforms for investigating the interplay between correlated-electron phenomena and topologically nontrivial bands. Here, we report on systematic magnetic, transport, and muon-spin rotation and relaxation (uSR) measurements on (Nd,Sm)AlGe single crystals, which exhibit antiferromagnetic (AFM) transitions at T_N = 6.1 and 5.9 K, respectively. In addition, NdAlGe undergoes also an incommensurate-to-commensurate ferrimagnetic transition at 4.5 K. Weak transverse-field µSR measurements confirm the AFM transitions, featuring a ∼90% magnetic volume fraction. Zero-field (ZF) µSR measurements reveal a more disordered internal field distribution in NdAlGe than in SmAlGe, reflected in a larger transverse muon-spin relaxation rate λ^T at T ≪ T_N. This may be due to the complex magnetic structure of NdAlGe, which undergoes a series of metamagnetic transitions in an external magnetic field, while SmAlGe shows only a robust AFM order. In NdAlGe, the topological Hall effect (THE) appears between the first and the second metamagnetic transitions for H ∥ c, while it is absent in SmAlGe. Such THE in NdAlGe is most likely attributed to the field-induced topological spin textures. The longitudinal muon-spin relaxation rate λ^L, diverges near the AFM order, followed by a clear drop at T < T_N. In the magnetically ordered state, spin fluctuations are significantly stronger in NdAlGe than in SmAlGe. In general, our longitudinal-field μSR data indicate vigorous spin fluctuations in NdAlGe, thus providing valuable insights into the origin of THE and of the possible topological spin textures in REAl(Si,Ge) Weyl semimetals.