Large spontaneous magneto-thermoelectric effect in epitaxial thin films of the topological kagome ferromagnet <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Fe</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:mi>Sn</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>
Shun’ichiro Kurosawa, Tomoya Higo, Shota Saito, Ryota Uesugi, Satoru Nakatsuji
Abstract
This study investigates the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE), a novel technique to convert heat into electricity utilizing the magnetic and topological properties of materials. Unlike the Seebeck effect, ANE employs established thin-film technology to develop practical thermoelectric devices. We have successfully fabricated high-quality (0001)-oriented epitaxial films of the topological kagome ferromagnet Fe${}_{3}$Sn and characterized their thermoelectric properties. These films exhibit a large ``zero-field'' ANE signal of ~3 \textmu{}V/K at room temperature due to large magneto-crystalline anisotropy as well as the shape anisotropy for in-plane magnetization arrangements, making them ideal for applications such as heat flux sensors and energy harvesters. This breakthrough in utilizing Fe${}_{3}$Sn films not only advances the understanding of ANE in topological magnets but also paves the way for the design of high-performance thermoelectric devices.