Unconventional thermoelectric transport in tilted Weyl semimetals

TL;DR

This paper investigates how tilt in Weyl semimetals influences their thermoelectric transport properties, revealing nonmonotonic and linear behaviors depending on tilt orientation, and predicts an axial Nernst current in certain symmetric materials.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of thermoelectric effects in tilted Weyl semimetals using the Kubo formalism, highlighting new behaviors and the generation of axial Nernst currents.

Findings

Nonmonotonic thermoelectric conductivity with tilt perpendicular to magnetic field

Linear thermoelectric response when tilt aligns with magnetic field

Prediction of axial Nernst current in inversion symmetric Weyl materials

Abstract

We analyze the effect of the tilt on the transverse thermoelectric coefficient of Weyl semimetals in the \emph{conformal} limit, i.e., zero temperature and zero chemical potential. Using the Kubo formalism, we find a nonmonotonic behavior of the thermoelectric conductivity as a function of the tilt perpendicular to the magnetic field, and a linear behavior when the tilt is aligned to the magnetic field. An ``axial Nernst" current (chiral currents counter propagating perpendicularly to the magnetic field and the temperature gradient) is generated in inversion symmetric Weyl materials when the tilt vector has a projection in the direction of the magnetic field. This analysis will help in the design and interpretation of thermoelectric transport experiments in recently discovered topological quantum materials.