arXiv subjects

Kate Choi

Publications and source records attributed to Kate Choi.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Spin-Phonon Coupling in Transition Metal Insulators: General Computational Approach and Application to MnPSe$_3$

Spin-phonon coupling underlies a number of diverse range of phenomena of recent interest, particularly in transition metal insulators with strong spin-orbit effects, where it may give rise to hybrid magnetoelastic excitations, and the controversial phonon thermal Hall effect. In this work, we describe a general approach to the first principles estimation of generic spin-orbit-phonon couplings suitable for investigating these diverse effects. The method is demonstrated by application to study the temperature-dependent optical phonon lineshapes in MnPSe$_3$, for which we find quantitative agreement with recent experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Theory of Intrinsic Phonon Thermal Hall Effect in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$

We apply a recently developed first-principles based approach for treating generic spin-phonon couplings in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling to study $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$. Of particular focus is the potential for this material to exhibit a phonon thermal Hall effect induced by spin-phonon interactions. We find that spin-orbit coupling significantly enriches the form of these interactions, and imbues them with chirality that is conducive to generating finite phonon Berry curvatures. We show that this leads to a phonon thermal Hall effect that qualitatively reproduces the measured field dependence of $\kappa_{xy}$ without requiring a field-induced spin liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗