Phonon Thermal Hall Effect in Mott Insulators via Skew Scattering by the Scalar Spin Chirality

IF 11.6 1区物理与天体物理 Q1 PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Physical Review X Pub Date : 2025-02-19 DOI:10.1103/physrevx.15.011036

Taekoo Oh, Naoto Nagaosa

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Abstract

Thermal transport is a crucial probe for studying excitations in insulators. In Mott insulators, the primary candidates for heat carriers are spins and phonons; which of these candidates dominates the thermal conductivity is a persistent issue. Typically, phonons dominate the longitudinal thermal conductivity while the thermal Hall effect (THE) is primarily associated with spins, requiring time-reversal symmetry breaking. The coupling between phonons and spins usually depends on spin-orbit interactions and is relatively weak. Here, we propose a new mechanism for this coupling and the associated THE: the skew scattering of phonons via spin fluctuations by the scalar spin chirality. This coupling does not require spin-orbit interactions and is ubiquitous in Mott insulators, leading to a thermal Hall angle on the order of 10−3 to 10−2. Based on this mechanism, we investigate the THE in YMnO3 with a trimerized triangular lattice where the THE beyond spins was recognized, and we predict the THE in the kagome and square lattices.

Published by the American Physical Society

2025

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来源期刊

Physical Review X PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

24.60

自引率

1.60%

发文量

197

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Physical Review X (PRX) stands as an exclusively online, fully open-access journal, emphasizing innovation, quality, and enduring impact in the scientific content it disseminates. Devoted to showcasing a curated selection of papers from pure, applied, and interdisciplinary physics, PRX aims to feature work with the potential to shape current and future research while leaving a lasting and profound impact in their respective fields. Encompassing the entire spectrum of physics subject areas, PRX places a special focus on groundbreaking interdisciplinary research with broad-reaching influence.