Orbital Accumulation Induced by Chiral Phonons

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical framework for inducing orbital accumulation through chiral phonons, utilizing orbital-dependent electron-lattice coupling and Berry curvature, offering a spin-orbit-free method to generate and enhance orbital polarization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical approach to generate orbital accumulation driven by chiral phonons, including a formula based on Berry curvature and Green's functions, and suggests ways to amplify the effect.

Findings

Chiral phonons couple mainly to orbital quadrupole moments.

Static orbital dipole can be generated second-order in lattice displacement.

Method enables orbital accumulation without spin-orbit interactions.

Abstract

We theoretically investigate orbital accumulation driven by chiral phonons via orbital-dependent electron-lattice coupling. We derive a formula for the orbital accumulation induced by classical lattice dynamics or nonequilibrium phonons, using the Berry curvature, linear response theory, and the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We show that chiral phonons primarily couple to orbital quadrupole moments and that static orbital dipole accumulation can be generated in the second-order of lattice displacement. Our study provides a useful method for generating orbital accumulation without using spin-orbit interactions and suggests a strategy to boost its magnitude by harnessing band structure hot spots associated with orbital degeneracy.