Hinge Magnons from Non-collinear Magnetic Order in Honeycomb Antiferromagnet

TL;DR

This paper predicts a new higher-order topological magnon phase with hinge modes in non-collinear magnetic order, using a non-Hermitian magnon Hamiltonian in a layered honeycomb antiferromagnet, exemplified by chromium trihalides.

Contribution

It introduces a novel higher-order topological magnon phase arising from non-collinear magnetic order and non-Hermitian topology in layered honeycomb antiferromagnets.

Findings

Transition from topological magnon insulator to higher-order phase with hinge modes

Identification of monoclinic chromium trihalides as candidate materials

Demonstration of non-Hermitian topology in magnon systems

Abstract

We propose that non-collinear magnetic order in quantum magnets can harbor a novel higher-order topological magnon phase with non-Hermitian topology and hinge magnon modes. We consider a three-dimensional system of interacting local moments on stacked-layers of honeycomb lattice. It initially favors a collinear magnetic order along an in-plane direction, which turns into a non-collinear order upon applying an external magnetic field perpendicular to the easy axis. We exploit the non-Hermitian nature of the magnon Hamiltonian to show that this field-induced transition corresponds to the transformation from a topological magnon insulator to a higher-order topological magnon state with a one-dimensional hinge mode. As a concrete example, we discuss the recently-discovered monoclinic phase of the thin chromium trihalides, which we propose as the first promising material candidate of the higher-order topological magnon phase.