Strain induced Chiral Magnetic Effect in Weyl semimetals
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2016-12-28 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
We argue that strain applied to a time-reversal and inversion breaking Weyl semi-metal in a magnetic field can induce an electric current via the chiral magnetic effect. A tight binding model is used to show that strain generically changes the locations in the Brillouin zone but also the energies of the band touching points (tips of the Weyl cones). Since axial charge in a Weyl semi-metal can relax via inter-valley scattering processes the induced current will decay with a timescale given by the lifetime of a chiral quasiparticle. We estimate the strength and lifetime of the current for typical material parameters and find that it should be experimentally observable.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1607.03491,
title = {Strain induced Chiral Magnetic Effect in Weyl semimetals},
author = {Alberto Cortijo and Dmitri Kharzeev and Karl Landsteiner and María A. H. Vozmediano},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.03491},
year = {2016}
}