Site mixing induced ferrimagnetism and anomalous transport properties of the Weyl semimetal candidate <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Mn</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi>Sb</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi>Te</mml:mi><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>
Dayu Yan, Ming‐Wei Yang, Peng-Bo Song, Yang Song, Cuixiang Wang, Changjiang Yi, Y. G. Shi
Abstract
$\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ has been proposed to have magnetic topological states as a potential Weyl semimetal. We synthesized single crystals of $\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ and systematically investigated their structural and physical properties. $\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ has an isostructural septuple-layered structure that is similar to the magnetic topological insulator $\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ but possesses transpositional Mn and Sb atoms between the sublayers. Magnetic and specific-heat measurements revealed a ferrimagnetic phase transition with a Curie temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{C}}$ of \ensuremath{\sim}31 K in $\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$, which originates from the interaction of the interexchanged ${\mathrm{Mn}}^{2+}$ ions. As the temperature decreases below ${T}_{\mathrm{C}}$, negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect are observed, implying a non-negligible connection between the magnetism and expected transport carriers that may be driven by topological bands. Our results indicate that ferrimagnetic $\mathrm{Mn}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ provides insights for further studies on magnetic topological materials.