Abstract
Magnetic orders characterized by multiple ordering vectors harbor noncollinear and noncoplanar spin textures and can be a source of unusual electronic properties through the spin Berry phase mechanism. We theoretically show that such multiple- states are stabilized in itinerant magnets in the form of superpositions of collinear up-up-down-down (UUDD) spin states, which accompany the density waves of vector and scalar chirality. The result is drawn by examining the ground state of the Kondo lattice model with classical localized moments, especially when the Fermi surface is tuned to be partially nested by the symmetry-related commensurate vectors. We unveil the instability toward a double- UUDD state with vector chirality density waves on the square lattice and a triple- UUDD state with scalar chirality density waves on the triangular lattice, using the perturbative theory and variational calculations. The former double- state is also confirmed by large-scale Langevin dynamics simulations. We also show that, for a sufficiently large exchange coupling, the chirality density waves can induce rich nontrivial topology of electronic structures, such as the massless Dirac semimetal, Chern insulator with quantized topological Hall response, and peculiar edge states which depend on the phase of chirality density waves at the edges.
- Received 20 March 2016
- Revised 29 May 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.024424
©2016 American Physical Society