Chiral Weyl-Kondo semimetallic state through enhanced correlation in CeGaGe

Abstract

Strongly correlated chiral materials have been proposed to host a chiral Weyl-Kondo semimetal (cWKSM) state, in which Kondo hybridization pins chirality-induced Kramers-Weyl point crossings, together with additional symmetry-enforced band crossings, near the Fermi level. Realizing this state requires a material that combines crystal chirality, non-symmorphic symmetry, and Kondo correlations, and currently there are no known materials that combine all these requirements. Here we report evidence for a cWKSM state in CeGaGe, a member of the RXY (R = rare earth; X = Al, Si; Y = Ga, Ge) family. Magnetization measurements confirm long-range antiferromagnetic order below T$_N$ = 4.7 K with a complex, canted magnetic structure. Unique to CeGaGe among the known RXY systems is a structural transition from an achiral tetragonal I4$_{1}$md structure (at high temperatures) to the chiral tetragonal P4$_{3}$ structure (at low temperatures). The structural transition in CeGaGe allows us to highlight the role of chirality in stabilizing the Kramers cWKSM state. Hall resistivity measurements with $H || c$ reveal an anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) that is constant below the Kondo temperature $T_K \approx 7$ K and drops sharply above it. This crossover tracks the onset of Kondo coherence rather than the magnetic ordering, which occurs at T$_N$ = 4.7 K. Together with first-principles calculations for the $P4_3$ structure, this identifies the AHC as an intrinsic, Berry-curvature-driven contribution generated by Kondo hybridization, rather than a consequence of extrinsic scattering or dynamic scalar spin chirality. These results establish CeGaGe as a rare experimental platform in which crystal chirality, strong electronic correlations, and non-trivial band topology coexist, providing the first material realization of a Kondo-driven cWKSM state.