Spin-texture-driven electrical transport in multi-Q antiferromagnets

Unusual magnetic textures can be stabilized in f-electron materials due to the interplay between competing magnetic interactions, complex Fermi surfaces, and crystalline anisotropy. Here we investigate CeAuSb2, an f-electron incommensurate antiferromagnet hosting both single-Q and double-Q spin textures as a function of magnetic fields (H) applied along the c axis. Experimentally, we map out the field-temperature phase diagram via electrical resistivity and thermal expansion measurements. Supported by calculations of a Kondo lattice model, we attribute the puzzling magnetoresistance enhancement in the double-Q phase to the localization of the electronic wave functions caused by the incommensurate magnetic texture. The magnetic, electronic, and structural properties of a quantum material are intrinsically linked. In f-electron systems, such as cerium-based materials, this interplay can be exceedingly complex. Here, the authors investigate the antiferromagnet CeAuSb2 using a Kondo lattice model in order to resolve the changes in conductance that occur with variations in the magnetic spin texture as function of applied magnetic field.