Spontaneous topological diode effect induced by non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order

Abstract

In non-centrosymmetric bulk materials, electrons flowing in the opposite directions often exhibit different properties. This diode-like effect (i.e., non-reciprocal electron transport) typically originates from relativistic spin-orbit coupling, and its amplitude scales with external magnetic field or magnetization in ferromagnets. Although such rectification is usually absent in antiferromagnets at zero field, recent theories predict that non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order can host large non-reciprocity even without spin-orbit coupling, magnetization or external magnetic fields. This phenomenon - the spontaneous topological diode effect - can potentially be used for efficient electrical readout of antiferromagnetic domains, while it has not been verified for real materials. Here, we report the observation of this effect in a chiral-lattice non-coplanar antiferromagnet CoTa3S6. Nonlinear resistivity measurements reveal the non reciprocal nature of electron transport along the [001] direction at zero field. The observed non-reciprocity exceeds that in typical ferromagnets, whose amplitude is governed by antiferromagnetic order parameter rather than magnetization. First-principles calculations show that the non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order induces asymmetric band dispersions even without spin-orbit coupling, establishing the non-relativistic origin of the observed response. The present findings demonstrate a new mechanism for efficient electrical readout of antiferromagnetic domains, and highlight non-coplanar antiferromagnets as a promising material platform for realizing ferromagnet-like functional responses without relying on spin-orbit coupling or magnetization.

Spontaneous magnetic diode effect in Co_1/3TaS₂
Yining Hu, Taikang Chen, Jan Priessnitz +6
arXiv25 Oct 2026PreprintarXiv licenceFull textCondensed matterarXiv
Anomalous Metallic States at Magnetic Interfaces in an Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator Candidate DyPtBi with Ferroquadrupolar Order
Kentaro Ueda, Hiraku Saito, Zen Ogame +6
Physical Review X27 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Atomic, molecular & optical physicsAPS
Nonlinear Topological Orbital Responses of Antiferromagnetic Skyrmions
Amir N. Zarezad, Arne Brataas, Alireza Qaiumzadeh
arXiv9 Sep 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCondensed matterarXiv
Direct observation of a spin-polarized surface Dirac gap in the antiferromagnetic topological insulator NdBi
Yuto Fukushima, Hiroyuki S. Suzuki, Masayuki Ochi +15
arXiv26 Oct 2026PreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCondensed matterarXiv
Amplification based on the noise-induced negative differential resistance in a Zener diode
Alexandre Dumont, Bertrand Reulet
Applied Physics Letters28 Sep 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textStatistical & nonlinear physicsHAL

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{khanh2026spontaneous,
  title = {{Spontaneous topological diode effect induced by non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order}},
  author = {Nguyen Duy Khanh and Hirotaka Takagi and Rina Takagi and Susumu Minami and Tatsuto Hatanaka and Hikaru Watanabe and Michi-To Suzuki and Yuki Yanagi and Aki Kitaori and Takuya Nomoto and Ryotaro Arita and Shinichiro Seki},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.37003},
  eprint = {2610.37003},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37003},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Spontaneous topological diode effect induced by non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order
AU  - Nguyen Duy Khanh
AU  - Hirotaka Takagi
AU  - Rina Takagi
AU  - Susumu Minami
AU  - Tatsuto Hatanaka
AU  - Hikaru Watanabe
AU  - Michi-To Suzuki
AU  - Yuki Yanagi
AU  - Aki Kitaori
AU  - Takuya Nomoto
AU  - Ryotaro Arita
AU  - Shinichiro Seki
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.37003
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37003
AB  - In non-centrosymmetric bulk materials, electrons flowing in the opposite directions often exhibit different properties. This diode-like effect (i.e., non-reciprocal electron transport) typically originates from relativistic spin-orbit coupling, and its amplitude scales with external magnetic field or magnetization in ferromagnets. Although such rectification is usually absent in antiferromagnets at zero field, recent theories predict that non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order can host large non-reciprocity even without spin-orbit coupling, magnetization or external magnetic fields. This phenomenon - the spontaneous topological diode effect - can potentially be used for efficient electrical readout of antiferromagnetic domains, while it has not been verified for real materials. Here, we report the observation of this effect in a chiral-lattice non-coplanar antiferromagnet CoTa3S6. Nonlinear resistivity measurements reveal the non reciprocal nature of electron transport along the [001] direction at zero field. The observed non-reciprocity exceeds that in typical ferromagnets, whose amplitude is governed by antiferromagnetic order parameter rather than magnetization. First-principles calculations show that the non-coplanar antiferromagnetic order induces asymmetric band dispersions even without spin-orbit coupling, establishing the non-relativistic origin of the observed response. The present findings demonstrate a new mechanism for efficient electrical readout of antiferromagnetic domains, and highlight non-coplanar antiferromagnets as a promising material platform for realizing ferromagnet-like functional responses without relying on spin-orbit coupling or magnetization.
ER  -

Abstract

Related

Cite