Giant spin Nernst effect induced by resonant scattering at surfaces of metallic films

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach to induce a giant spin Nernst effect in nonmagnetic metallic films by engineering resonant impurity states at the Fermi level, supported by analytical and ab-initio calculations.

Contribution

It presents a new mechanism for large spin Nernst effects through resonant scattering at surfaces, combining analytical modeling with first-principles calculations.

Findings

Giant spin Nernst effect observed in Ag(111) films.

Resonant impurity states significantly enhance spin Nernst response.

Analytical and ab-initio methods confirm the effect's origin.

Abstract

A new concept realizing giant spin Nernst effect in nonmagnetic metallic films is introduced. It is based on the idea of engineering an asymmetric energy dependence of the longitudinal and transverse electrical conductivities, as well as a pronounced energy dependence of the spin Hall angle in the vicinity of the Fermi level by the resonant impurity states at the Fermi level. We employ an analytical model and demonstrate the emergence of a giant spin Nernst effect in Ag(111) films using {\it ab-initio} calculations combined with the Boltzmann approach for transport properties arising from skew scattering off impurities.