Weyl-mediated helical magnetism in NdAlSi

The Weyl fermions in NdAlSi mediate a helical incommensurate spin density wave, providing a rare example of Weyl-mediated collective phenomena. Emergent relativistic quasiparticles in Weyl semimetals are the source of exotic electronic properties such as surface Fermi arcs, the anomalous Hall effect and negative magnetoresistance, all observed in real materials. Whereas these phenomena highlight the effect of Weyl fermions on the electronic transport properties, less is known about what collective phenomena they may support. Here, we report a Weyl semimetal, NdAlSi, that offers an example. Using neutron diffraction, we found a long-wavelength helical magnetic order in NdAlSi, the periodicity of which is linked to the nesting vector between two topologically non-trivial Fermi pockets, which we characterize using density functional theory and quantum oscillation measurements. We further show the chiral transverse component of the spin structure is promoted by bond-oriented Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions associated with Weyl exchange processes. Our work provides a rare example of Weyl fermions driving collective magnetism.

Automated summary

In NdAlSi, Weyl fermions mediate a helical incommensurate spin density wave, serving as a rare example of Weyl-mediated collective phenomena. This material demonstrates unique electronic properties of Weyl semimetals and reveals collective magnetism associated with Weyl fermions through techniques such as neutron diffraction.