Chiral and flat-band magnetic cluster excitations in a ferromagnetic kagome metal

Abstract

TbMn6Sn6 is a metallic ferrimagnet that displays signatures of band topology arising from a combination of uniaxial ferromagnetism and spin-orbit coupling within its Mn kagome layers. Whereas the low energy magnetic excitations can be described as collective spin waves using a local moment Heisenberg model, sharply defined optical and flat-band collective magnon modes are not observed. In their place, we find overdamped chiral and flat-band spin correlations that are localized to hexagonal plaquettes within the kagome layer.