Search for: All records

The extension of magnon electron drag (MED) to the paramagnetic domain has recently shown that it can create a thermopower more significant than the classical diffusion thermopower resulting in a thermoelectric figure-of-merit greater than unity. Due to their distinct nature, ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) magnons interact differently with the carriers and generate different amounts of drag-thermopower. The question arises of whether the MED is stronger in FM or in AFM semiconductors. Two material systems, namely MnSb and CrSb, which are similar in many aspects except that the former is FM and the latter AFM, were studied in detail, and their MED properties were compared. Three features of AFMs compared to FMs, namely double degeneracy of the magnon modes, higher magnon group velocity, and longer magnon relaxation time, can lead to enhanced first-order MED thermopower. One effect, magnon–electron relaxation, leads to a higher second-order effect in AFMs that reduces the MED thermopower. However, it is generally expected that the first-order effect dominates and leads to a higher drag thermopower in AFMs, as seen in this case study. 

The interplay between magnetism and quantum effects has motivated several thermoelectric studies on iron‐telluride yet with little insight on the anomalous features in transport properties near magnetostructural transition temperature (≈70 K). A detailed investigation is carried out on Fe_1.1Te by characterizing magnetic, heat capacity, galvanomagnetic, and thermoelectric transport properties to understand the electronic, magnetic, and structural origin of those anomalies. The magnetic susceptibility indicates a bicollinear stripe and short‐range ordering in the antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic domains, respectively. Hall conductivity and transverse magnetoresistance reveal a multicarrier transport impacted by spin fluctuations and magnons. Contributions from phonon‐drag and magnon‐drag are evaluated to understand the origin of the broad peak in antiferromagnetic thermopower. The peak at ≈50 K and the insignificant entropy contribution from the magnonic heat capacity support the phonon‐drag as the origin. The field‐dependent enhancement of thermal conductivity must be associated with field‐dependent spin‐phonon coupling modification. The field‐induced thermopower reduction can be attributed to the suppression of magnons or paramagnons, as evidenced by the magnetic susceptibility data. Above 70 K, the thermal conductivity drops sharply due to the structural change modifying phonon modes. Understanding these properties originated from the spin, and quantum effects are instrumental for designing high‐performance spin‐driven thermoelectrics.