Driving the Berry phase anomalous Hall effect in a noncollinear antiferromagnet by domain manipulation

Abstract: The emergence of anomalous Hall effects (AHE) in antiferromagnets presents an intriguing phenomenon with potential spintronic device applications due to their ultrafast switching dynamics. Mn3NiN antiperovskite stands out as a promising candidate owing to its noncollinear antiferromagnetism. In this study, we report a significant AHE observed in epitaxial Mn3NiN thin films below the N\'eel temperature, comparable to those observed in typical ferromagnets. Through a combination of magnetometry, neutron diffraction and ab-initio data analyses, we propose that the substantial AHE can be attributed to the non-vanishing Berry curvature arising from the {\Gamma}4g-type spin structure, coupled with uncompensated magnetic domains featuring a weak canted moment. This coupling, due to robust antiferromagnetic domains, enables deterministic detection and switching of AHE via the application of a magnetic field.