Spin Hall effect emerging from a noncollinear magnetic lattice without spin-orbit coupling

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Yang Zhang - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Jakub Železný - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Yan Sun - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Jeroen Van Den Brink - , Chair of Solid State Theory, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Binghai Yan - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Weizmann Institute of Science (Author)

Abstract

The spin Hall effect (SHE), which converts a charge current into a transverse spin current, has long been believed to be a phenomenon induced by spin-orbit coupling. Here, we identify an alternative mechanism to realize the intrinsic SHE through a noncollinear magnetic structure that breaks the spin rotation symmetry. No spin-orbit coupling is needed even when the scalar spin chirality vanishes, different from the case of the topological Hall effect and topological SHE reported previously. In known noncollinear antiferromagnetic compounds Mn3X (X = Ga, Ge, and Sn), for example, we indeed obtain large spin Hall conductivities based on ab initio calculations.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number073028
JournalNew journal of physics
Volume20
Issue number7
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2018
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • antiferromagnet, spin Hall effect, spin-orbital coupling