Magnonic analog of the Edelstein effect in antiferromagnetic insulators

Journal Article · Fri Jan 31 00:00:00 UTC 2020 · Physical Review B

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.024427 · OSTI ID:1596690

Li, Bo  ^[1]; Mook, Alexander ^[2]; Raeliarijaona, Aldo ^[3]; Kovalev, Alexey A. ^[3]

---

1. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States); University of Nebraska - Lincoln
2. Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) (Germany); Univ. of Basel (Switzerland)
3. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

Here we investigate the nonequilibrium spin polarization due to a temperature gradient in antiferromagnetic insulators, which is the magnonic analog of the inverse spin-galvanic effect of electrons. We derive a linear-response theory of a temperature-gradient-induced spin polarization for collinear and noncollinear antiferromagnets, which comprises both extrinsic and intrinsic contributions. We apply our theory to several noncentrosymmetric antiferromagnetic insulators, i.e., to a one-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin chain, a single layer of kagome noncollinear antiferromagnet, e.g., ${\text{KFe}}_3{\left(\text{OH}\right)}_6{\left({\text{SO}}_4\right)}_2$, and a noncollinear breathing pyrochlore antiferromagnet, e.g., ${\mathrm{LiGaCr}}_4{\mathrm{O}}_8$. The shapes of our numerically evaluated response tensors agree with those implied by the magnetic symmetry. Furthermore, assuming a realistic temperature gradient of $10\text{K/mm}$, we find two-dimensional spin densities of up to $~{10}^6\hslash /{\text{cm}}^2$ and three-dimensional bulk spin densities of up to $~{10}^{14}\hslash /{\text{cm}}^3$, encouraging an experimental detection

• Research Organization: Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0014189
• OSTI ID: 1596690
• Journal Information: Physical Review B, Journal Name: Physical Review B Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 101; ISSN 2469-9950; ISSN PRBMDO
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English