Temperature-invariant magneto-optical Kerr effect in noncollinear antiferromagnet
Noncollinear antiferromagnets exhibit anomalous Hall and magneto-optical Kerr effects driven by Berry curvature despite negligible net magnetization, promising ultrafast spintronic applications. While both effects are theoretically expected to reveal the intrinsic Berry curvature that serves as a spintronic memory bit, their quantitative interpretation is complicated by additional temperature-dependent contributions superimposed on the magnetic order parameter: extrinsic skew scattering in dc Hall transport, and optical-resonance effects in visible-wavelength Kerr measurements. Here we perform polar Kerr measurements at the infrared telecommunication wavelength (1550 nm) on epitaxial, stoichiometric ${\mathrm{Mn}}_{3}\mathrm{NiN}$ single-crystal films, revealing a spontaneous Kerr signal that remains stable within a few percent over a 200 K range below the N\'eel temperature. This temperature-invariant intrinsic Kerr response contrasts with the strongly temperature-dependent anomalous Hall effect in the same sample dominated by extrinsic skew scattering. Our findings establish infrared Kerr effect as a robust, local probe of Berry curvature in noncollinear antiferromagnets, enabling quantitative characterization and advancing antiferromagnetic spintronic technologies.
Authors
- Jing Xia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6780-8926)
- Hua Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9661-8379)
- Chang‐Beom Eom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8854-1439)
- Camron Farhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0342-3685)
- Yuchuan Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6864-356X)
- Jian‐Guo Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6610-9162)
- Pratap Pal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7223-1970)
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of California System (US)
- Colorado State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Materials
- Published
- 2026-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/wmh3-qf3k
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.58
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Office of Science
- Office of Naval Research
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences