No Arabic abstract
Temperature gradient in a ferromagnetic conductor may generate a spontaneous transverse voltage drop in the direction perpendicular to both magnetization and heat current. This anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) has been considered to be proportional to the magnetization, and thus observed only in ferromagnets, while recent theories indicate that ANE provides a measure of the Berry curvature at the Fermi energy $E_{rm F}$. Here we report the observation of a large ANE at zero field in the chiral antiferromagnet Mn$_3$Sn. Despite a very small magnetization $sim 0.002$ $mu_{rm B}/$Mn, the transverse Seebeck coefficient at zero field is $sim 0.35~mu$V/K at room temperature and reaches $sim 0.6~mu$V/K at 200 K, comparable with the maximum value known for a ferromagnetic metal. Our first-principles calculation reveals that the large ANE comes from a significantly enhanced Berry curvature associated with the Weyl points nearby $E_{rm F}$. The ANE is geometrically convenient for the thermoelectric power generation, as it enables a lateral configuration of the modules to efficiently cover the heat source. Our observation of the large ANE in an antiferromagnet paves a way to develop a new class of thermoelectric material using topological magnets to fabricate an efficient, densely integrated thermopile.
We investigate the intrinsic magnon spin current in a noncollinear antiferromagnetic insulator. We introduce a definition of the magnon spin current in a noncollinear antiferromagnet and find that it is in general non-conserved, but for certain symmetries and spin polarizations the averaged effect of non-conserving terms can vanish. We formulate a general linear response theory for magnons in noncollinear antiferromagnets subject to a temperature gradient and analyze the effect of symmetries on the response tensor. We apply this theory to single-layer potassium iron jarosite KFe$_3$(OH)$_6$(SO$_4$)$_2$ and predict a measurable spin current response.
Inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) allows the conversion of pure spin current into charge current in nonmagnetic materials (NM) due to spin-orbit interaction (SOI). In ferromagnetic materials (FM), SOI is known to contribute to anomalous Hall effect (AHE), anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR), and other spin-dependent transport phenomena. However, SOI in FM has been ignored in ISHE studies in spintronic devices, and the possibility of self-induced ISHE in FM has never been explored until now. In this paper, we demonstrate the experimental verification of ISHE in FM. We found that the spin-pumping-induced spin current in permalloy (Py) film generates a transverse electromotive force (EMF) in the film itself, which results from the coupling of spin current and SOI in Py. The control experiments ruled out spin rectification effect and anomalous Nernst effect as the origin of the EMF.
A detailed study of the magnetic and transport properties of Si1-xMnx (X = 0.35) films is presented. We observe the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in these films up to room temperature. The results of the magnetic measurements and the AHE data are consistent and demonstrate the existence of long-range ferromagnetic (FM) order in the systems under study. A correlation of the AHE and the magnetic properties of Si1-xMnx (X = 0.35) films with their conductivity and substrate type is shown. A theoretical model based on the idea of a two-phase magnetic material, in which molecular clusters with localized magnetic moments are embedded in the matrix of a weak itinerant ferromagnet, is discussed. The long-range ferromagnetic order at high temperatures is mainly due to the Stoner enhancement of the exchange coupling between clusters through thermal spin fluctuations (paramagnons) in the matrix. Theoretical predictions and experimental data are in good qualitative agreement.
Topological insulators are new states of quantum matter with surface states protected by the time-reversal symmetry. In this work, we perform first-principle electronic structure calculations for $Sb_2Te_3$, $Sb_2Se_3$, $Bi_2Te_3$ and $Bi_2Se_3$ crystals. Our calculations predict that $Sb_2Te_3$, $Bi_2Te_3$ and $Bi_2Se_3$ are topological insulators, while $Sb_2Se_3$ is not. In particular, $Bi_2Se_3$ has a topologically non-trivial energy gap of $0.3 eV$, suitable for room temperature applications. We present a simple and unified continuum model which captures the salient topological features of this class of materials. These topological insulators have robust surface states consisting of a single Dirac cone at the $Gamma$ point.
Thermoelectric properties of a model Skyrmion crystal were theoretically investigated, and it was found that its large anomalous Hall conductivity, corresponding to large Chern numbers induced by its peculiar spin structure leads to a large transverse thermoelectric voltage through the anomalous Nernst effect. This implies the possibility of finding good thermoelectric materials among Skyrmion systems, and thus motivates our quests for them by means of the first-principles calculations as were employed here.