Electron magnetic moment of transient chiral phonons in KTaO$_3$

TL;DR

This paper investigates how transient chiral phonons in KTaO$_3$ can induce measurable electronic magnetization through a phonon-electron spin coupling mechanism, enabled by high-intensity THz laser excitation.

Contribution

It introduces a new coupling mechanism between phonon angular momentum and electron spin, explaining experimentally observed magnetization in materials with theoretical predictions of tiny phonon magnetic moments.

Findings

Estimated electronic magnetic moment of ~0.1 μ_B per unit cell in KTaO$_3$

Magnetization depends on doping level and electron temperature

Provides a theoretical framework for phonon-induced transient magnetism

Abstract

High intensity THz lasers allow for the coherent excitation of individual phonon modes. The ultrafast control of emergent magnetism by means of phonons opens up new tuning mechanisms for functional materials. While theoretically predicted phonon magnetic moments are tiny, recent experiments hint towards a significant magnetization in various materials. To explain these phenomena, we derive a coupling mechanism between the phonon angular momentum and the electron spin. This coupling introduces the transient level-splitting of spin-up and spin-down channels and a resulting magnetization. We estimate this magnetization on the example of the lowest infrared active mode in the perovskite KTaO$_3$. Our results show an electronic magnetic moment of $\approx 10^{-1}$ $\mu_B$ per unit cell, depending on the doping level and electron temperature.