Rectification of the spin Seebeck current in noncollinear antiferromagnets

(Dated: In the absence of an external magnetic field and a spin-polarized charge current, an antiferromagnetic system supports two degenerate magnon modes. An applied thermal bias activates the magnetic dynamics, leading to a magnon flow from the hot to the cold edge (magnonic spin Seebeck current). Both degenerate bands contribute to the magnon current but the orientations of the magnetic moments underlying the magnons are opposite in different bands. Therefore, while the magnon current is nonzero, the net spin current is zero. To obtain a nonzero net spin current, one needs to apply either a magnetic field or a spin-polarized charge current that lifts the bands’ degeneracy. Here, attaching a thermal contact to one edge of a helical nanowire, we study three different magnonic spin currents: (i) the exchange, and (ii) Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya spin currents flowing along the helical nanowire, and (iii) magnonic spin current pumped into the adjacent normal metal layer. We find that the combination of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and external magnetic field enhances substantially the spin current compared to the current generated solely through a magnetic field. Due to nonreciprocal magnons and magnon dichroism effect, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya and the exchange spin currents show left-right propagation asymmetry, with 20% of current rectification. The spin pumping current shows a slight asymmetry only in the case of a strong Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. The observed effects are explained in terms of the magnon dispersion relations and the magnon Doppler effect.