Electric field induced thermal Hall effect of triplons in the quantum dimer magnets $X$CuCl$_{3}$ ($X =$ Tl, K)

TL;DR

This paper theoretically predicts an electric field induced thermal Hall effect of triplons in quantum dimer magnets $X$CuCl$_{3}$, linking ferroelectricity and magnetism through a magnetoelectric effect that can be experimentally controlled.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where electric fields induce a thermal Hall effect in triplons via an intradimer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in quantum dimer magnets.

Findings

Electric field induces a thermal Hall effect in $X$CuCl$_{3}$.

The effect is controllable by electric field strength and direction.

The proposed mechanism links ferroelectricity and magnetism in these materials.

Abstract

We theoretically propose the electric field induced thermal Hall effect of triplons in the quantum dimer magnets $X$CuCl$_{3}$ ($X =$ Tl, K), which exhibit ferroelectricity in the Bose-Einstein condensation phase of triplons. The interplay between ferroelectricity and magnetism in these materials leads to the magnetoelectric effect, i.e., an electric-field induced Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction between spins on the same dimer. We argue that this intradimer DM interaction breaks the symmetry of the system in the absence of an electric field and gives rise to the thermal Hall effect, which can be detected in experimentally accessible electric and magnetic fields. We also show that the thermal Hall effect can be controlled by changing the strength or direction of the electric field.