Magnonic analogs of topological Dirac semimetals

Abstract

In electronic topological Dirac semimetals (DSMs) the conduction and valence bands touch at discrete points in the Brillouin zone and form Dirac cones. They are robust against spin–orbit interaction (SOI) and protected by crystal symmetries. They can be driven to different topological phases by breaking the symmetries. In the low-temperature quantum magnetic systems the magnon dispersions have similar band structures as the electron dispersions, but with positive definite energies. In these magnetic systems SOI manifests in the form of the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI). In this communication, we identify two types of magnonic DSMs in quasi-two-dimensional quantum magnets. The first type is a consequence of topological phase transition between trivial and topological magnon insulators and the second type is intrinsic and protected by crystal symmetries. They are robust against DMI and can be driven to a topological magnon phase by breaking the symmetries. They can be manipulated by an external magnetic field and accessible by the bulk sensitive inelastic neutron scattering experiments.