Magnetic order and physical properties of the Kagome metal UNb$_6$Sn$_6$

Abstract

The $RM_6X_6$ family of materials ($R$ = rare-earth, $M$ = transition metal, $X$ = Ga, Si, Ge, Sn) produces an array of emergent phenomena, such as charge density waves, intrinsic Hall effects, and complex magnetic order, due to its Kagome net of transition metal atoms, its local-moment magnetic anisotropies, and its extensive chemical tunability. Here, we report a new ``166" material containing both an actinide (uranium) and a 4$d$ transition metal (niobium) to investigate the properties of a 5$f$-4$d$ electron 166 system. UNb$_6$Sn$_6$ crystallizes in the hexagonal $P$6/$mmm$ space group with a small degree of disorder due to shifts in the size of the CoSn-like cages along the $c$ axis. Upon cooling at zero magnetic field, the material undergoes two magnetic phase transitions at $T_\mathrm{2}$ = 46 K and $T_\mathrm{N}$ = 43 K. The low-temperature, zero-field phase is an antiferromagnet with ordered uranium moments and a $\textbf{k}$=(0,0,1/2) propagation vector determined by neutron diffraction. Remarkably, with a magnetic field applied along the $c$ axis, five additional magnetic transitions occur, evidenced by magnetization and resistivity data, before the moment saturates at 2.62 ${\mu}_{\mathrm{B}}$/U at 2 K and $\ge$13.6 T. In two magnetic phase regions, the Hall resistivity of UNb$_6$Sn$_6$ significantly deviates from the magnetization, suggesting that the phases have a large Berry curvature or a change in the Fermi surface. The unknown magnetic ordering of the field-dependent phases of UNb$_6$Sn$_6$ demonstrates the complexity of the 5$f$-4$d$ 166 system and encourages further study of its properties.