English

Spin-reorientation as a switch for electronic topology in van der Waals ferromagnets

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2026-03-24 v1

Abstract

The interplay between spin reorientation and topological electronic structure in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets is central to understanding how magnetic anisotropy shapes charge transport. Although spin-reorientation transitions (SRTs) are common in 2D metallic ferromagnets, their impact on electronic-topology-driven thermodynamic and transport properties remains largely unexplored. Here we investigate this issue in Fe4_4GeTe2_2 (F4GT), a room-temperature quasi-2D vdW ferromagnet, using temperature-dependent magnetization, specific heat, magnetotransport, and thermoelectric measurements. Magnetization and specific heat establish a reorientation of the magnetic easy axis near TSRT100T_{\mathrm{SRT}} \sim 100~K, in addition to ferromagnetic ordering at TC270T_C \sim 270~K. Across the SRT, the Seebeck coefficient and anisotropic magnetoresistance show clear anomalies, indicating Fermi-surface reconstruction. The magnetoresistance exhibits a two-step field dependence: a low-field enhancement near the SRT associated with scattering from canted spins and evolving domains, followed by a higher-field negative response as spin fluctuations are suppressed. The simultaneous sign change of the ordinary Hall coefficient R0R_0 and the sharp anomaly in the anomalous Hall resistivity ρyxA\rho^{A}_{yx} further point to a temperature-driven modification of the underlying band topology. Analysis of the anomalous Hall conductivity σxyA\sigma^{A}_{xy} and the scaling of ρyxA\rho^{A}_{yx} shows that the Berry-curvature-driven anomalous Hall response below TSRTT_{\mathrm{SRT}} is strongly modified above the transition. Our results identify spin reorientation as an internal control parameter for switching between distinct topological transport regimes in a 2D vdW ferromagnet, providing a symmetry-controlled route to engineer spin-polarized electronic states and domain-texture-driven functionalities.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.20457,
  title  = {Spin-reorientation as a switch for electronic topology in van der Waals ferromagnets},
  author = {Satyabrata Bera and Sudipta Chatterjee and Suman Kalyan Pradhan and Subhadip Pradhan and Arnab Bera and Sk Kalimuddin and Ashis K. Nandy and Mintu Mondal},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.20457},
  year   = {2026}
}