Negative magneto-thermal-resistance in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet

TL;DR

This paper shows that a weak magnetic field can cause negative magneto-thermal-resistance in disordered 2D antiferromagnets by affecting magnon weak localization, with potential applications in spintronics.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of negative magneto-thermal-resistance in disordered antiferromagnets due to weak localization effects on magnons.

Findings

Weak magnetic field increases thermal conductivity in disordered antiferromagnets.

Negative magneto-thermal-resistance observed due to weak localization correction.

Potential for controlling magnon thermal currents in spintronics devices.

Abstract

We demonstrate that a weak external magnetic field can induce negative magneto-thermal-resistance for magnons in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet. We study the main effect of a weak external magnetic field on the longitudinal thermal conductivity, $\kappa_{xx}$, for a disordered antiferromagnet using the weak-localization theory for magnons. We show that the weak-localization correction term of $\kappa_{xx}$ positively increases with increasing the magnetic field parallel to the ordered spins. Since this increase corresponds to a decrease of the thermal resistivity, this phenomenon is negative magneto-thermal-resistance for magnons. This negative magneto-thermal-resistance and the weak localization of magnons will be used to control the magnon thermal current in antiferromagnetic spintronics devices. We also discuss several implications for further experimental and theoretical studies for disordered magnets.