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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 073028 |
| Journal | New Journal of Physics |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2018 |
Funding
We thank Professor Claudia Felser at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Professor Carsten Timm at the Technical University Dresden and Professor Yuval Oreg at the Weizmann Institute of Science for helpful discussions. YZ and JvdB acknowledge the German Research Foundation (DFG) SFB 1143. BY acknowledges support by the Ruth and Herman Albert Scholars Program for New Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science and by a grant from the GIF, the German–Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development.
Keywords
- antiferromagnet
- spin Hall effect
- spin-orbital coupling