Diagonal and off-diagonal thermal conduction with resonant phonon scattering in $N{i}_{3}Te{O}_6$

Abstract

The coupling between phonon and magnon is ubiquitous in magnetic materials and plays a crucial role in many aspects of magnetic properties, most notably in spintronics. Yet, this academically and technologically interesting problem still poses a severe challenge to a general understanding of the issue in certain materials. We report that Ni3TeO6 exhibits clear evidence of significant magnon-phonon coupling in both longitudinal thermal conductivity ($\hat{I}{º}_{xx}$) and thermal Hall coefficient ($\hat{I}{º}_{xy}$). The Debye-Callaway model, a phenomenological description for phonon heat conduction, can explain the measured magnetic field dependence of $\hat{I}{º}_{xx}(H)$: phonon scattering from spin fluctuation in the paramagnetic phase and additional scattering due to magnon-phonon coupling in the collinear antiferromagnetic phase. We further suggest that a similar approach could be applied to understand the finite $\hat{I}{º}_{xy}$ values in $N{i}_{3}Te{O}_6$.

20 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication as a Regular Article in Physical Review B