Magnetic Oscillations Induced by Phonons in Non-Magnetic Materials

The authors show that, similarly to electrons, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, phonons can induce an effective magnetic oscillation even in non-magnetic materials, and therefore can act as an additional spin-flipping mechanism in electron-phonon physics. An unexpected finding two decades ago...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García de Gurtubay Galligo, Idoia, Iturbe Beristain, Aitzol, Eiguren Goyenechea, Asier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/51958
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/51958
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:electrons
spin-orbit coupling
phonons
electron-phonon physics
Shockley electron
magnetic oscillation
emerging phonon
Descripción
Sumario:The authors show that, similarly to electrons, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, phonons can induce an effective magnetic oscillation even in non-magnetic materials, and therefore can act as an additional spin-flipping mechanism in electron-phonon physics. An unexpected finding two decades ago demonstrated that Shockley electron states in noble metal surfaces are spin-polarized, forming a circulating spin texture in reciprocal space. The fundamental role played by the spin degree of freedom was then revealed, even for a non-magnetic system, whenever the spin-orbit coupling was present with some strength. Here, we demonstrate that, similarly to electrons in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, the propagating vibrational modes are also accompanied by a well-defined magnetic oscillation even in non-magnetic materials. Although this effect is illustrated by considering a single layer of the WSe2 dichalogenide, the phenomenon is completely general and valid for any non-magnetic material with spin-orbit coupling. The emerging phonon-induced magnetic oscillation acts as an additional effective flipping mechanism for the electron spin and its implications in the transport and scattering properties of the material are evident and profound.