Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3
Abstract
The honeycomb magnet α-RuCl3 has attracted considerable interest because it is proximate to the Kitaev Hamiltonian whose excitations are Majoranas and vortices. The thermal Hall conductivity κxy of Majorana fermions is predicted to be half-quantized. Half-quantization of κxy/T (T, temperature) was recently reported, but this observation has proven difficult to reproduce. Here, we report detailed measurements of κxy on α-RuCl3 with the magnetic field B ∥ a (zigzag axis). In our experiment, κxy/T is observed to be strongly temperature dependent between 0.5 and 10 K. We show that its temperature profile matches the distinct form expected for topological bosonic modes in a Chern-insulator-like model. Our analysis yields magnon band energies in agreement with spectroscopic experiments. At high B, the spin excitations evolve into magnon-like modes with a Chern number of ~1. In conclusion, the bosonic character is incompatible with half-quantization of κxy/T.
- Authors:
-
- Princeton University, NJ (United States)
- University of Tokyo (Japan)
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 2203828
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 22; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1476-1122
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Citation Formats
Czajka, Peter, Gao, Tong, Hirschberger, Max, Lampen-Kelley, Paula, Banerjee, Arnab, Quirk, Nicholas, Mandrus, David G., Nagler, Stephen E., and Ong, N. P. Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41563-022-01397-w.
Czajka, Peter, Gao, Tong, Hirschberger, Max, Lampen-Kelley, Paula, Banerjee, Arnab, Quirk, Nicholas, Mandrus, David G., Nagler, Stephen E., & Ong, N. P. Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01397-w
Czajka, Peter, Gao, Tong, Hirschberger, Max, Lampen-Kelley, Paula, Banerjee, Arnab, Quirk, Nicholas, Mandrus, David G., Nagler, Stephen E., and Ong, N. P. Thu .
"Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01397-w. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2203828.
@article{osti_2203828,
title = {Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3},
author = {Czajka, Peter and Gao, Tong and Hirschberger, Max and Lampen-Kelley, Paula and Banerjee, Arnab and Quirk, Nicholas and Mandrus, David G. and Nagler, Stephen E. and Ong, N. P.},
abstractNote = {The honeycomb magnet α-RuCl3 has attracted considerable interest because it is proximate to the Kitaev Hamiltonian whose excitations are Majoranas and vortices. The thermal Hall conductivity κxy of Majorana fermions is predicted to be half-quantized. Half-quantization of κxy/T (T, temperature) was recently reported, but this observation has proven difficult to reproduce. Here, we report detailed measurements of κxy on α-RuCl3 with the magnetic field B ∥ a (zigzag axis). In our experiment, κxy/T is observed to be strongly temperature dependent between 0.5 and 10 K. We show that its temperature profile matches the distinct form expected for topological bosonic modes in a Chern-insulator-like model. Our analysis yields magnon band energies in agreement with spectroscopic experiments. At high B, the spin excitations evolve into magnon-like modes with a Chern number of ~1. In conclusion, the bosonic character is incompatible with half-quantization of κxy/T.},
doi = {10.1038/s41563-022-01397-w},
journal = {Nature Materials},
number = 1,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2022},
month = {Thu Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2022}
}
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