Spin reorientation and sign reversal of Berry curvature induced intrinsic anomalous Hall effect in the manganese pnictide MnSb

Abstract

The manipulation of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) by controlling magnetization is of great interest in condensed matter physics due to its potential application for the practical design of spintronic devices. In this study, we report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the AHE in the MnSb manganese pnictide. Temperature-dependent magnetization measurement indicates spin reorientation transition (SRT) temperature at ∼ 120 K (TSR). Magnetotransport data shows that negative magnetoresistance increases from room temperature up to SRT temperature 120 K, then decreases and becomes positive at very low temperatures. The anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) shows temperature-independent behavior from room temperature to TSR followed by a drop and sign reversal at low temperatures. Detailed scaling analysis of anomalous Hall data suggests that the AHE above TSR is primarily governed by the intrinsic Berry curvature and the obtained value of intrinsic AHC is about 310 S/cm. In contrast, below TSR, the extrinsic skew scattering becomes the dominant contributor to the AHE compared to the intrinsic Berry curvature and the obtained value of intrinsic AHC is about-28 S/cm. The first-principles calculations reveal that changes in the sign and magnitude of the intrinsic AHC are attributed to modifications in the Berry curvature when the magnetic moment undergoes rotation from the c-axis to the ab-plane. Our study yields a compound exhibiting large AHC and offers an insightful comprehension of the anisotropic behavior of AHE due to the modification of Berry curvature. © 2024 American Physical Society.