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Spin Nernst Effect of Magnons in Collinear Antiferromagnets...

by Ran Cheng, Satoshi Okamoto, Di Xiao
Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Physical Review Letters
Publication Date
Page Number
217202
Volume
117
Issue
21

n a collinear antiferromagnet with easy-axis anisotropy, symmetry guarantees that the spin wave modes are doubly degenerate. The two modes carry opposite spin angular momentum and exhibit opposite chirality. Using a honeycomb antiferromagnet in the presence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, we show that a longitudinal temperature gradient can drive the two modes to opposite transverse directions, realizing a spin Nernst effect of magnons with vanishing thermal Hall current. We find that magnons around the $\Gamma$ point and the $K$ point contribute oppositely to the transverse spin transport, and their competition leads to a sign change of the spin Nernst coefficient at finite temperature. Possible material candidates are discussed.