Heat conduction in magnetic insulators via hybridization of acoustic phonons and spin-flip excitations

We present a comprehensive study on the longitudinal magnetothermal transport in a paramagnetic effective spin-1/2 magnetic insulator <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:msub><a:mi>CsYbSe</a:mi><a:mn>2</a:mn></a:msub></a:math>, by introducing a minimal model requiring only Zeeman splitting and magnetoelastic coupling. We use it to argue that hybridized excitations—formed from acoustic phonons and localized spin-flip-excitations across the Zeeman gap of the crystal electric field ground doublet—are responsible for a nonmonotonic field dependence of longitudinal thermal conductivity. Beyond highlighting a starring role for phonons, our results raise the prospect of universal magnetothermal transport phenomena in paramagnetic insulators that originate from simple features shared across many systems.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Research
Published
2025-04-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.7.l022007
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.52

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article

Heat conduction in magnetic insulators via hybridization of acoustic phonons and spin-flip excitations

Christopher A. Pocs, Athena S. Sefat, Jie Xing, Minhyea Lee et al.
2 citations
Physical Review Research
Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
2.52
article

Heat conduction in magnetic insulators via hybridization of acoustic phonons and spin-flip excitations

Christopher A. Pocs, Athena S. Sefat, Jie Xing, Minhyea Lee, Michael Hermele, Eun Sang Choi, Ian A. Leahy
article en
2 citations

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study on the longitudinal magnetothermal transport in a paramagnetic effective spin-1/2 magnetic insulator <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:msub><a:mi>CsYbSe</a:mi><a:mn>2</a:mn></a:msub></a:math>, by introducing a minimal model requiring only Zeeman splitting and magnetoelastic coupling. We use it to argue that hybridized excitations—formed from acoustic phonons and localized spin-flip-excitations across the Zeeman gap of the crystal electric field ground doublet—are responsible for a nonmonotonic field dependence of longitudinal thermal conductivity. Beyond highlighting a starring role for phonons, our results raise the prospect of universal magnetothermal transport phenomena in paramagnetic insulators that originate from simple features shared across many systems.

Physical Review ResearchVol. 7(2)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), University of Colorado System (US), National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Office of Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Division of Materials Research, Basic Energy Sciences, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
2.52
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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