Contributor info: Dr Tim Kokkeler

Tim Kokkeler, Ilya Tokatly, F. Sebastian Bergeret

SciPost Phys. 18, 178 (2025) · published 5 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We present a quantum transport theory for generic magnetic metals, in which magnetism occurs predominantly due to exchange interactions, such as ferromagnets, antiferromagnets, altermagnets and p-wave magnets. Our theory is valid both for the normal and the superconducting state and is based on the generalization of nonlinear sigma model to such systems. We derive the effective low-energy action for each of these materials, where the symmetries of the corresponding spin space group are used to determine the form of the tensor coefficients appearing in the action. The transport equations, which are obtained as the saddle point equations of this action, describe a wider range of phenomena than the usual quasiclassical equations. In ferromagnets, in addition to the usual exchange field and spin relaxation effects, we identify a spin-dependent renormalization of the diffusion coefficient, and a correction to the Hanle effect. The former provides a description of spin-polarized currents in both the normal and superconducting equal spin-triplet states. In the normal state, our equations provide a complete description of the spin-splitting effect in diffusive systems, recently predicted in ideal clean altermagnets. In the superconducting state, our equations predict a proximity induced magnetization, the appearance of a spontaneous magnetic moment in hybrid superconductor-altermagnet systems. The distribution and polarization direction of this magnetic moment depend on the symmetry of the structure, thus measurements of such polarization reveal the underlying microscopic symmetry of the altermagnet. Finally, for inversion-symmetry-broken antiferromagnets, such as the p-wave magnet, we show that spin-galvanic effects may emerge. This effect is indistinguishable from the spin-galvanic effect induced by spin-orbit coupling in the normal state, but they can be distinguished through the temperature dependence in the superconducting state. Besides these examples, our model applies to arbitrary magnetic systems, providing a complete theory for nonequilibrium transport in diffusive nonconventional magnets at arbitrary temperatures.

Tim Kokkeler, Ilya Tokatly, F. Sebastian Bergeret

SciPost Phys. 16, 055 (2024) · published 26 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

The search for superconducting systems exhibiting nonreciprocal transport and, specifically, the diode effect, has proliferated in recent years. This trend has encompassed a wide variety of systems, including planar hybrid structures, asymmetric SQUIDs, and certain noncentrosymmetric superconductors. A common feature of such systems is a gyrotropic symmetry, realized on different scales and characterized by a polar vector. Alongside time-reversal symmetry breaking, the presence of a polar axis allows for magnetoelectric effects, which, when combined with proximity-induced superconductivity, results in spontaneous non-dissipative currents that underpin the superconducting diode effect. With this symmetry established, we present a comprehensive theoretical study of transport in a lateral Josephson junction composed of a normal metal supporting the spin Hall effect, and attached to a ferromagnetic insulator. Due to the presence of the latter, magnetoelectric effects arise without requiring external magnetic fields. We determine the dependence of the anomalous currents on the spin relaxation length and the transport parameters commonly used in spintronics to characterize the interface between the metal and the ferromagnetic insulator. Therefore, our theory naturally unifies nonreciprocal transport in superconducting systems with classical spintronic effects, such as the spin Hall effect, spin galvanic effect, and spin Hall magnetoresistance. We propose an experiment involving measurements of magnetoresistance in the normal state and nonreciprocal transport in the superconducting state. Such experiment would, on the one hand, allow for determining the parameters of the model and thus verifying with a greater precision the theories of magnetoelectric effects in normal systems. On the other hand, it would contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying microscopic origins that determine these parameters.