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Several Ising-type magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibit stable magnetic ground states. Despite these clear experimental demonstrations, a complete theoretical and microscopic understanding of their magnetic anisotropy is still lacking. In particular, the validity limit of identifying their one-dimensional (1-D) Ising nature has remained uninvestigated in a quantitative way. Here we performed the complete mapping of magnetic anisotropy for a prototypical Ising vdW magnet FePS$_3$ for the first time. Combining torque magnetometry measurements with their magnetostatic model analysis and the relativistic density functional total energy calculations, we successfully constructed the three-dimensional (3-D) mappings of the magnetic anisotropy in terms of magnetic torque and energy. The results not only quantitatively confirm that the easy axis is perpendicular to the $ab$ plane, but also reveal the anisotropies within the $ab$, $ac$, and $bc$ planes. Our approach can be applied to the detailed quantitative study of magnetism in vdW materials., Comment: Accepted in IOP 2D Materials

The interface between a solid and vacuum can become electronically distinct from the bulk. This feature, encountered in the case of quantum Hall effect, has a manifestation in insulators with topologically protected metallic surface states. Non-trivial Berry curvature of the Bloch waves or periodically driven perturbation are known to generate it. Here, by studying the angle-dependent magnetoresistance in prismatic bismuth crystals of different shapes, we detect a robust surface contribution to electric conductivity when the magnetic field is aligned parallel to a two-dimensional boundary between the three-dimensional crystal and vacuum. The effect is absent in antimony, which has an identical crystal symmetry, a similar Fermi surface structure and equally ballistic carriers, but an inverted band symmetry and a topological invariant of opposite sign. Our observation confirms that the boundary interrupting the cyclotron orbits remains metallic in bismuth, which is in agreement with what was predicted by Azbel decades ago. However, the absence of the effect in antimony indicates an intimate link between band symmetry and this boundary conductance., Comment: To appear in Nature Communications

With the emergence of Dirac fermion physics in the field of condensed matter, magnetic quantum oscillations (MQOs) have been used to discern the topology of orbits in Dirac materials. However, many previous researchers have relied on the single-orbit Lifshiftz-Kosevich formula, which overlooks the significant effect of degenerate orbits on MQOs. Since the single-orbit LK formula is valid for massless Dirac semimetals with small cyclotron masses, it is imperative to generalize the method applicable to a wide range of Dirac semimetals, whether massless or massive. This report demonstrates how spin-degenerate orbits affect the phases in MQOs of three-dimensional massive Dirac semimetal, NbSb$_2$. With varying the direction of the magnetic field, an abrupt $\pi$ phase shift is observed due to the interference between the spin-degenerate orbits. We investigate the effect of cyclotron mass on the $\pi$ phase shift and verify its close relation to the phase from the Zeeman coupling. We find that the $\pi$ phase shift occurs when the cyclotron mass is 1/2 of the electron mass, indicating the effective spin gyromagnetic ratio is $g_s$ = 2. Our approach is not only useful for analysing MQOs of massless Dirac semimetals with a small cyclotron mass, but also can be used for MQOs in massive Dirac materials with degenerate orbits, especially in topological materials with a sufficiently large cyclotron mass. Furthermore, this method provides a useful way to estimate the precise $g_s$ value of the material., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

We report observation of strong magnetic proximity coupling in a heterostructured superconductor Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs, determined by the upper critical fields $H_{c2}(T)$ measurements up to 65 T. Using the resistivity and the radio-frequency measurements for both $H \parallel ab$ and $H \parallel c$, we found a strong upward curvature of $H_{c2}^c(T)$, together with a steep increase of $H_{c2}^{ab}(T)$ near $T_c$, yielding the anisotropic factor $\gamma_H=H_{c2}^{ab}/H_{c2}^c$ up to $\sim$ 20, the largest value among iron-based superconductors. These are attributed to the Jaccarino-Peter effect, rather than to the multiband effect, due to strong exchange interaction between itinerant Fe spins of the FeAs layers and localized V spins of Mott-insulating SrVO$_3$ layers. These findings provide evidence for strong antiferromagnetic proximity coupling, comparable with the intralayer superexchange interaction of SrVO$_3$ layer and sufficient to induce magnetic frustration in Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs., Comment: 4 figures

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of FeSe under the in-plane magnetic fields using torque magnetometry, specific heat, magnetocaloric measurements. Below the upper critical field Hc2, we observed the field-induced anomalies at H1 ~ 15 T and H2 ~ 22 T near H//ab and below a characteristic temperature T* ~ 2 K. The transition magnetic fields H1 and H2 exhibit negligible dependence on both temperature and field orientation. This contrasts with the strong temperature and angle dependence of Hc2, suggesting that these anomalies are attributed to the field-induced phase transitions, originating from the inherent spin-density-wave instability of quasiparticles near the superconducting gap minima or possible Flude-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in the highly spin-polarized Fermi surfaces. Our observations imply that FeSe, an atypical multiband superconductor with extremely small Fermi energies, represents a unique model system for stabilizing unusual superconducting orders beyond the Pauli limit., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted

The novel electronic state of the canted antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator, strontium iridate (Sr2IrO4) has been well described by the spin-orbit-entangled isospin Jeff = 1/2, but the role of isospin in transport phenomena remains poorly understood. In this study, antiferromagnet-based spintronic functionality is demonstrated by combining unique characteristics of the isospin state in Sr2IrO4. Based on magnetic and transport measurements, large and highly anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) is obtained by manipulating the antiferromagnetic isospin domains. First-principles calculations suggest that electrons whose isospin directions are strongly coupled to in-plane net magnetic moment encounter the isospin mismatch when moving across antiferromagnetic domain boundaries, which generates a high resistance state. By rotating a magnetic field that aligns in-plane net moments and removes domain boundaries, the macroscopically-ordered isospins govern dynamic transport through the system, which leads to the extremely angle-sensitive AMR. As with this work that establishes a link between isospins and magnetotransport in strongly spin-orbit-coupled AFM Sr2IrO4, the peculiar AMR effect provides a beneficial foundation for fundamental and applied research on AFM spintronics., Comment: Advanced Materials, online published (2018)

We performed Se and F-NMR measurements on single crystals of (TMTSF)2FSO3 to characterize the electronic structures of different phases in the Temperature-Pressure phase diagram, determined by precise transport measurements [Jo et al., Phys. Rev. B67, 014516 (2003)]. We claim that such varieties of electronic states in the refined phase diagram are caused by strong couplings of the conduction electrons with FSO3 anions, especially with the permanent electric dipoles on the anions. We suggest that as temperature decreases, the FSO3 anions form orientational ordering through two steps; first only the tetrahedrons form an orientational order leaving the orientations of the electronic dipoles in random (transition I); then the dipoles form a perfect orientational order at a lower temperature (transition II). In the intermediate temperature range between transitions I and II, we found an appreciable enhancement of homogeneous and inhomogeneous widths of 77Se-NMR spectrum. From the analysis of the angular dependence of the linewidth, we attributed these anomalies to the intramolecular charge disproportionation or imbalance and its slow dynamics caused by the coupling with the permanent electric dipole of anion. Results of 19F-NMR relaxation and lineshape measurements support this picture very well. Electronic structures at higher pressures up to 1.25 GPa are discussed on the basis of the results of the 77Se and 19F-NMR measurements., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

We report on a study of Seebeck coefficient and resistivity in the quasi-one-dimensional conductor (TMTSF)$_{2}$PF$_{6}$ extended deep into the Spin-Density-Wave(SDW) state. The metal-insulator transition at $T_{SDW}$ = 12 K leads to a reduction in carrier concentration by seven orders of magnitude. Below 1 K, charge transport displays the behavior known as Variable Range Hopping (VRH). Until now, the Seebeck response of electrons in this regime has been barely explored and even less understood. We find that in this system, residual carriers, hopping from one trap to another, generate a Seebeck coefficient as large as 400 $k_{B}$/$e$. The results provide the first solid evidence for a long-standing prediction according to which hopping electrons in presence of Coulomb interaction can generate a sizeable Seebeck coefficient in the zero-temperature limit., Comment: Final version

The ratio of the Zeeman splitting to the cyclotron energy ($M=\Delta E_{\rm Z}/\hbar \omega_{\rm c}$) for hole-like carriers in bismuth has been quantified with a great precision by many experiments performed during the past five decades. It exceeds 2 when the magnetic field is along the trigonal axis and vanishes in the perpendicular configuration. Theoretically, however, $M$ is expected to be isotropic and equal to unity in a two-band Dirac model. We argue that a solution to this half-a-century-old puzzle can be found by extending the $k\cdot p$ theory to multiple bands. Our model not only gives a quantitative account of magnitude and anisotropy of $M$ for hole-like carriers in bismuth, but also explains its contrasting evolution with antimony doping pressure, both probed by new experiments reported here. The present results have important implications for the magnitude and anisotropy of $M$ in other systems with strong spin-orbit coupling., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

A double peak structure in the magneto-phonon resonance (MPR) spectrum of uniaxial strained graphene, under crossed electric and magnetic fields, is predicted. We focus on the $\Gamma$ point optical phonon modes coupled to the inter-Landau level transitions $0 \leftrightarrows \pm 1$ where MPR is expected to be more pronounced at high magnetic field. We derive the frequency shifts and the broadenings of the longitudinal (LO) and transverse (TO) optical phonon modes taking into account the effect of the strain modified electronic spectrum on the electron-phonon coupling. We show that the MPR lines acquire a double resonance structure originating from the two-fold valley degeneracy lifting. The latter is due to the different Landau level spacings in the two Dirac valleys resulting form the simultaneous action of the inplane electric field and the strain induced Dirac cone tilt. We discuss the role of some key parameters such as disorder, strain, doping and electric field amplitude on the emergence of the double resonance structure.

We present an extensive study of angle-dependent transverse magnetoresistance in bismuth, with a magnetic field perpendicular to the applied electric current and rotating in three distinct crystallographic planes. The observed angular oscillations are confronted with the expectations of semi-classic transport theory for a multi-valley system with anisotropic mobility and the agreement allows us to quantify the components of the mobility tensor for both electrons and holes. A quadratic temperature dependence is resolved. As Hartman argued long ago, this indicates that inelastic resistivity in bismuth is dominated by carrier-carrier scattering. At low temperature and high magnetic field, the threefold symmetry of the lattice is suddenly lost. Specifically, a $2\pi/3$ rotation of magnetic field around the trigonal axis modifies the amplitude of the magneto-resistance below a field-dependent temperature. By following the evolution of this anomaly as a function of temperature and magnetic field, we mapped the boundary in the (field, temperature) plane separating two electronic states. In the less-symmetric state, confined to low temperature and high magnetic field, the three Dirac valleys cease to be rotationally invariant. We discuss the possible origins of this spontaneous valley polarization, including a valley-nematic scenario., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures

Electrons are offered a valley degree of freedom in presence of particular lattice structures. Manipulating valley degeneracy is the subject matter of an emerging field of investigation, mostly focused on charge transport in graphene. In bulk bismuth, electrons are known to present a threefold valley degeneracy and a Dirac dispersion in each valley. Here we show that because of their huge in-plane mass anisotropy, a flow of Dirac electrons along the trigonal axis is extremely sensitive to the orientation of in-plane magnetic field. Thus, a rotatable magnetic field can be used as a valley valve to tune the contribution of each valley to the total conductivity. According to our measurements, charge conductivity by carriers of a single valley can exceed four-fifth of the total conductivity in a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. At high temperature and low magnetic field, the three valleys are interchangeable and the three-fold symmetry of the underlying lattice is respected. As the temperature lowers and/or the magnetic field increases, this symmetry is spontaneously lost. The latter may be an experimental manifestation of the recently proposed valley-nematic Fermi liquid state., Comment: 14 pages + 5 pages of supplementary information; a slightly modified version will appear as an article in Nature physics