Exciting the Scissors Mode in crystals with strong spin-orbit coupling as in Bose-Einstein Condensates

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to excite and observe the Scissors Mode in crystals with strong spin-orbit coupling, drawing an analogy to techniques used in Bose-Einstein Condensates, based on magnetic properties of rare-earth systems.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach to excite the Scissors Mode in crystals with strong spin-orbit coupling, expanding the experimental toolkit beyond photons and electrons.

Findings

Scissors Mode can be excited in crystals with strong spin-orbit interaction.

The excitation method is analogous to that used in Bose-Einstein Condensates.

Potential for new magnetic resonance experiments in solid-state systems.

Abstract

In a recent study of the magnetic properties of rare-earth systems the two extreme situations have been considered in which the crystalline electrostatic field is large or small with respect to the spin-orbit interaction. In the first case the orbitals of localized electrons are firmly coupled to the lattice so that while an applied magnetic field rotates the spin, the charge profile remains fixed to the lattice. In the second case an applied magnetic field rotates both spin and density profile, even though through a very small angle. We show that in this second case we have, in addition to the use of photons or electrons, the possibility of exciting and observing the Scissors Mode in crystals in a way analogous to that used in Bose-Einstein Condensates.