Topotaxial mutual-exchange growth of magnetic Zintl EuInAs nanowires with axion insulator classification.

Due to quasi-one-dimensional confinement, nanowires possess unique electronic properties, which can promote specific device architectures. However, nanowire growth presents paramount challenges, limiting the accessible crystal structures and elemental compositions. Here we demonstrate solid-state topotactic exchange that converts wurtzite InAs nanowires into Zintl EuInAs. Molecular-beam-epitaxy-based in situ evaporation of Eu and As onto InAs nanowires results in the mutual exchange of Eu from the shell and In from the core. Therefore, a single-phase EuInAs shell grows, which gradually consumes the InAs core. The mutual exchange is supported by the substructure of the As matrix, which is similar across the wurtzite InAs and Zintl EuInAs and therefore is topotactic. The EuInAs nanowires undergo an antiferromagnetic transition at a Néel temperature of ~6.5 K. Ab initio calculations confirm the antiferromagnetic ground state and classify EuInAs as a CT axion insulator, hosting both chiral hinge modes and unpinned Dirac surface states. The topotactic mutual-exchange nanowire growth will, thus, enable the exploration of intricate magneto-topological states in EuInAs and potentially in other exotic compounds.