Magnetic and transport properties of chiral antiferromagnetic Co2−xPdxMo3N thin films

Abstract

Hall transport and non-collinear magnetoresistance (NCMR) are studied for a chiral antiferromagnet (AFM) with the filled β-Mn-type structure. Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial thin films of Co2−xPdxMo3N revealed that, in addition to a canted antiferromagnetic behavior above room temperature, thin films with x = 1.01∼1.38 exhibited a transition to a spin spiral state with a higher magnetic moment below TSR of around 50 K, which was assigned to a spin reorientation transition. The low-temperature phase shows both large anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and topological Hall effect (THE). Upon the transition to the canted AFM phase existing up to room temperature, the large AHE still persists with vanishing THE. The behavior of the Hall transport properties coupled with NCMR signals in the current-perpendicular-to-the plane configuration shows the formation of topological spin textures with locally antiferromagnetic order. The present results open the way for the study of topological antiferromagnetic spin textures, manipulation of their properties, and for future spintronic applications.