Dirac cone, flat band and saddle point in kagome magnet YMn6Sn6

Kagome-lattices of 3d-transition metals hosting Weyl/Dirac fermions and topological flat bands exhibit non-trivial topological characters and novel quantum phases, such as the anomalous Hall effect and fractional quantum Hall effect. With consideration of spin-orbit coupling and electron correlation, several instabilities could be induced. The typical characters of the electronic structure of a kagome lattice, i.e., the saddle point, Dirac-cone, and flat band, around the Fermi energy (E-F) remain elusive in magnetic kagome materials. We present the experimental observation of the complete features in ferromagnetic kagome layers of YMn6Sn6 helically coupled along the c-axis, by using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and band structure calculations. We demonstrate a Dirac dispersion near E-F, which is predicted by spin-polarized theoretical calculations, carries an intrinsic Berry curvature and contributes to the anomalous Hall effect in transport measurements. In addition, a flat band and a saddle point with a high density of states near E-F are observed. These multi-sets of kagome features are of orbital-selective origin and could cause multi-orbital magnetism. The Dirac fermion, flat band and saddle point in the vicinity of E-F open an opportunity in manipulating the topological properties in magnetic materials. The typical characters of the electronic structure of magnetic kagome materials remain elusive. Here, the authors observe a Dirac cone, a flat band and a saddle point near the Fermi energy in ferromagnetic kagome material YMn6Sn6.

Automated summary

The observation of a Dirac cone, flat band, and saddle point near the Fermi energy in ferromagnetic Kagome material YMn6Sn6 presents potential opportunities for manipulating topological properties and multi-orbital magnetism.