Phonon Thermal Hall Effect in Strontium Titanate

It has been known for more than a decade that phonons can produce an off-diagonal thermal conductivity in the presence of a magnetic field. Recent studies of thermal Hall conductivity, κ_{xy}, in a variety of contexts, however, have assumed a negligibly small phonon contribution. We present a study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2020-03, Vol.124 (10), p.105901-105901, Article 105901
Main Authors: Li, Xiaokang, Fauqué, Benoît, Zhu, Zengwei, Behnia, Kamran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Hall effect
Phonons
Physics
Ruthenium trichloride
Strontium titanates
Thermal conductivity
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Summary:It has been known for more than a decade that phonons can produce an off-diagonal thermal conductivity in the presence of a magnetic field. Recent studies of thermal Hall conductivity, κ_{xy}, in a variety of contexts, however, have assumed a negligibly small phonon contribution. We present a study of κ_{xy} in quantum paraelectric SrTiO_{3}, which is a nonmagnetic insulator and find that its peak value exceeds what has been reported in any other insulator, including those in which the signal has been qualified as "giant." Remarkably, κ_{xy}(T) and κ(T) peak at the same temperature and the former decreases faster than the latter at both sides of the peak. Interestingly, in the case of La_{2}CuO_{4} and α-RuCl_{3}, κ_{xy}(T) and κ(T) peak also at the same temperature. We also studied KTaO_{3} and found a small signal, indicating that a sizable κ_{xy}(T) is not a generic feature of quantum paraelectrics. Combined to other observations, this points to a crucial role played by antiferrodistortive domains in generating κ_{xy} of this solid.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.124.105901