The Magneto-Transport Properties of Cr1/3TaS2 with Chiral Magnetic Solitons

Cr1/3TaS2-a candidate of chiral magnet-has been reported as a trivial ferromagnetic material. In contrast, the Cr1/3TaS2 single crystals exhibit a chiral helimagnetic (CHM) transition near 140 K. The magnetic moment versus magnetic field curves reveal a CHM-chiral soliton lattice (CSL)-forced ferromagnetic (FFM) transition in the magnetic ordered state. The conducting electrons interact with the CHM and CSL orders, giving rise to the nontrivial magnetoresistance (MR) in the Cr1/3TaS2 single crystals. The normalized magnetic moment and normalized MR fit well with the analytical functions for chiral soliton density. The magnetic phase diagrams constructed from the magnetic moment data and MR data suggest a possible tri-critical point. Compared with the isostructural Cr1/3NbS2, the CHM transition temperature of Cr1/3TaS2 is 13 K higher, the CSL-FFM transition field is about 10 times larger, and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction strength is 3 times bigger. The latter two likely originate from the strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of Cr1/3TaS2. The work clarifies that high-quality Cr1/3TaS2 single crystals are chiral magnets and Cr-1/3(Nb,Ta)S-2 could serve as an intriguing platform for the flexible engineering of chiral magnetic solitons with tunable SOC.

Automated summary

Cr1/3TaS2, as a candidate for chiral magnet, exhibits a unique CHM-FFM transition in its single crystals, with higher transition temperature and transition field compared to Cr1/3NbS2, likely due to its strong spin-orbit coupling. This material could serve as an intriguing platform for engineering chiral magnetic solitons with tunable SOC.