SU(3) Topology of Magnon-Phonon Hybridization in 2D Antiferromagnets

Shu Zhang, Gyungchoon Go, Kyung Jin Lee, Se Kwon Kim

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    60 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Magnon-phonon hybrid excitations are studied theoretically in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet with an easy axis normal to the plane. We show that two magnon bands and one phonon band are intertwined by the magnetoelastic coupling through a nontrivial SU(3) topology, which can be intuitively perceived by identifying a skyrmion structure in the momentum space. Our results are insensitive to lattice details and generally applicable to two-dimensional antiferromagnets. We show this by developing a continuum theory as the long-wavelength approximation to the tight-binding model. The theoretical results can be probed by measuring the thermal Hall conductance as a function of the temperature and the magnetic field. We envision that the magnetoelastic coupling in antiferromagnets can be a promising venue in search of various topological excitations, which cannot be found in magnetic or elastic models alone.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number147204
    JournalPhysical review letters
    Volume124
    Issue number14
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020 Apr 10

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2020 American Physical Society. © 2020 American Physical Society.

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Physics and Astronomy

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