Spin Thermal Hall Conductivity of a Kagome Antiferromagnet

Abstract

A clear thermal Hall signal (κ_{xy}) was observed in the spin-liquid phase of the S=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet Ca kapellasite [CaCu_{3}(OH)_{6}Cl_{2}·0.6H_{2}O]. We found that κ_{xy} is well reproduced, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using the Schwinger-boson mean-field theory with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction of D/J∼0.1. In particular, κ_{xy} values of Ca kapellasite and those of another kagome antiferromagnet, volborthite, converge to one single curve in simulations modeled using Schwinger bosons, indicating a common temperature dependence of κ_{xy} for the spins of a kagome antiferromagnet.