Chirality-selective topological magnon phase transition induced by interplay of anisotropic exchange interactions in honeycomb ferromagnet

Abstract

A variety of distinct anisotropic exchange interactions commonly exist in one magnetic material due to complex crystal, magnetic and orbital symmetries. Here we investigate the effects of multiple anisotropic exchange interactions on topological magnon in a honeycomb ferromagnet, and find a chirality-selective topological magnon phase transition induced by a complicated interplay of Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction and pseudo-dipolar interaction, accompanied by the bulk gap close and reopen with chiral inversion. Moreover, this novel topological phase transition involves band inversion at high symmetry points K and K′, which can be regarded as a pseudo-orbital reversal, i.e. magnon valley degree of freedom, implying a new manipulation corresponding to a sign change of the magnon thermal Hall conductivity. Indeed, it can be realized in 4d or 5d correlated materials with both spin–orbit coupling and orbital localized states, such as iridates and ruthenates, etc. This novel regulation may have potential applications on magnon devices and topological magnonics.