Experimental evidence for field-induced metamagnetic transition of EuCd2As2

Recent studies have shown that layered compound EuCd2As2 could exhibit diverse topological states depending on the different magnetic structures, such as Weyl semimetal, Dirac semimetal, topological insulator, etc. In order to further study the interplay between magnetism and topology of EuCd2As2, it is necessary to figure out its magnetic structure. Here, by magnetization (M) measurements and negative magnetostriction (λ) along the [001] direction measured by scanning tunneling microscope on EuCd2As2 single crystals, we observe field-induced metamagnetic phase transition from A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state to field-polarized state, with canted AFM (CAFM) state in between. Magnetization and magnetostriction are more sensitive to the in-plane field than the out-of-plane field, indicating the magnetic moments lying in the ab plane. The absence of abrupt jump on M-H and λ-H curves demonstrates the phase transition is a second-order type. In CAFM state, M increases linearly with the field and λ is proportional to M 2 . Tunneling conductance spectra show the field-induced evolution of the electronic density of states. Our results provide experimental evidence for understanding the magnetic structure of EuCd2As2.