We theoretically investigate the temperature gradient-dependent or unidirectional Seebeck effect (USE) in a magnetic/ nonmagnetic topological insulator (TI) heterostructure with in-plane magnetization in terms of the semiclassical electron dynamics and Fermi golden rule. The USE has a quantum origin arising from the magnon asymmetric scattering of surface Dirac electrons on TI. We discuss the USE in the heterostructures, Crx(Bi1−ySby)2−xTe3/ (Bi1−ySby)2Te3. The USE exhibits cosϕ-dependence (measured from y-direction) on the orientation of magnetization. It's found that the sign of USE stays unchanged when the system is transferred from p-doping to n-doping. The USE shows on inverse-linearly temperature dependent at high temperature.
@article{arxiv.1911.08122,
title = {Unidirectional Seebeck effect in magnetic topological insulators},
author = {Xiao-Qin Yu and Zhen-Gang Zhu and Gang Su},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.08122},
year = {2019}
}