The triangular lattice antiferromagnet (TLAF) has been the standard paradigm of frustrated magnetism for several decades. The most common magnetic ordering in insulating TLAFs is the 120° structure. However, a new triple-Q chiral ordering can emerge in metallic TLAFs, representing the short wavelength limit of magnetic skyrmion crystals. We report the metallic TLAF Co1/3TaS2 as the first example of tetrahedral triple-Q magnetic ordering with the associated topological Hall effect (non-zero σxy(H=0)). We also present a theoretical framework that describes the emergence of this magnetic ground state, which is further supported by the electronic structure measured by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Additionally, our measurements of the inelastic neutron scattering cross section are consistent with the calculated dynamical structure factor of the tetrahedral triple-Q state.

Authors: Pyeongjae Park, Woonghee Cho, Chaebin Kim, Yeochan An, Yoon-Gu Kang, Maxim Avdeev, Romain Sibille, Kazuki Iida, Ryoichi Kajimoto, Ki Hoon Lee, Woori Ju, En-Jin Cho, Han-Jin Noh, Myung Joon Han, Shang-Shun Zhang, Cristian D. Batista & Je-Geun Park

Nature Communications 

Link: https://rdcu.be/dtFzI