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    Field-induced metal-insulator transition, Chern insulators, and topological semimetals in the clean magnetic semiconductor GdGaI

    R. K. Guzman Ilave and Hiroaki Ishizuka

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 245204 – Published 23 October, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/l4wt-87js

    Abstract

    Noncoplanar magnetic order in low-carrier-density semiconductors provides a platform on which spin-charge coupling can reshape the electronic structure and induce nontrivial topological phases. Motivated by the recent discovery of the four-sublattice triple-q order in the magnetic semiconductor GdGaI, we study an effective theory that couples a Ga 4p hole pocket at the Γ point to three Gd 5d electron pockets at the M points through four exchange channels. For the antiferromagnetic umbrella state with zero net magnetization, the model hosts trivial (C=0) and C=±4 Chern insulator phases separated by metallic regions; by deriving an analytical low-energy theory at the Γ point, we show that the topological phase boundary is described by two degenerate double-Weyl semimetals, naturally explaining the ΔC=4 jump in the Chern number. In addition, a nodal-line-like state pinned near the Fermi level emerges in the absence of the p−d exchange coupling, which separates the C=±4 phases for θ=arccos(13) into two. Tuning the canting angle by an external magnetic field drives an insulator-to-metal transition out of the Chern insulator phase while leaving the trivial insulator largely intact, and stabilizes an additional C=±2 Chern insulator phase when the uniform-magnetization exchange couplings become appreciable. These results identify GdGaI and its sister compounds as highly tunable platforms for realizing topological phases and field-induced metal-insulator transitions in clean magnetic semiconductors.

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