Weak antilocalization and localization in Eu${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ (111) thin films by reactive solid phase epitaxy

Abstract

Thin films of the pyrochlore iridates along the [111] direction have drawn significant attention to investigate exotic correlated topological phenomena. Here, we report the fabrication of Eu${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ thin films via reactive solid phase epitaxy using the pulsed laser deposition technique. We mainly focus on the transport properties of the films below the magnetic phase transition at 105 K. Analyses on the temperature and the field dependences of resistivity unveil the presence of weak antilocalization, a characteristic signature of the Weyl semimetallic state that has been "buried" by magnetism. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the contribution from many-body interactions in Eu2Ir2O7 thin films is enhanced at lower temperatures and competes with the weak antilocalization effect, and eventually drives the crossover to weak localization at 2 K.

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