Electric Control of Dirac Quasiparticles by Spin-Orbit Torque in an Antiferromagnet.
Spin orbitronics and Dirac quasiparticles are two fields of condensed matter physics initiated independently about a decade ago. Here we predict that Dirac quasiparticles can be controlled by the spin-orbit torque reorientation of the Néel vector in an antiferromagnet. Using CuMnAs as an example, we formulate symmetry criteria allowing for the coexistence of topological Dirac quasiparticles and Néel spin-orbit torques. We identify the nonsymmorphic crystal symmetry protection of Dirac band crossings whose on and off switching is mediated by the Néel vector reorientation. We predict that this concept verified by minimal model and density functional calculations in the CuMnAs semimetal antiferromagnet can lead to a topological metal-insulator transition driven by the Néel vector and to the topological anisotropic magnetoresistance.
Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic.|Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.|Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Ke Karlovu 3, 121 16 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
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Šmejkal
Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic.|Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Strasse 40, D-01187 Dresden, Germany.
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Železný
Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic.|Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.
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Sinova
Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic.|School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
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Jungwirth