First-principles calculations of transport coefficients in Weyl semimetal TaAs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Allemand, Guillaume E., Giantomassi, Matteo, Verstraete, Matthieu J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Allemand, Guillaume E.
Giantomassi, Matteo
Verstraete, Matthieu J.
author_facet Allemand, Guillaume E.
Giantomassi, Matteo
Verstraete, Matthieu J.
contents We study charge and heat transport from first-principles in the topological Weyl semimetal TaAs. Electron-phonon coupling matrix elements are calculated using density functional perturbation theory and used to derive the thermo-electric transport coefficients, including the electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, electronic thermal conductivity and the Peltier coefficient. We compare the self-energy and momentum relaxation time approximations to the iterative solution of the Boltzmann Transport Equation, finding they give similar results for TaAs provided the chemical potential is treated accurately. For the iterative method, we derive an additional equation, which is needed to fully solve for transport under both thermal and an electrical potential gradients. Interestingly, the Onsager reciprocity between $S$ and $Π$ is no longer imposed, and we can deal with systems breaking time-reversal symmetry, in particular magnetic materials. We compare our results with the available experimental data for TaAs: the agreement is excellent for $σ_{xx}$, while $σ_{zz}$ is overestimated, probably due to differences in experimental carrier concentrations. The Seebeck coefficient is of the same order of magnitude in theory and experiments, and we find that its low-T behavior also strongly depends on the doping level.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_15522
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First-principles calculations of transport coefficients in Weyl semimetal TaAs
Allemand, Guillaume E.
Giantomassi, Matteo
Verstraete, Matthieu J.
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
We study charge and heat transport from first-principles in the topological Weyl semimetal TaAs. Electron-phonon coupling matrix elements are calculated using density functional perturbation theory and used to derive the thermo-electric transport coefficients, including the electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, electronic thermal conductivity and the Peltier coefficient. We compare the self-energy and momentum relaxation time approximations to the iterative solution of the Boltzmann Transport Equation, finding they give similar results for TaAs provided the chemical potential is treated accurately. For the iterative method, we derive an additional equation, which is needed to fully solve for transport under both thermal and an electrical potential gradients. Interestingly, the Onsager reciprocity between $S$ and $Π$ is no longer imposed, and we can deal with systems breaking time-reversal symmetry, in particular magnetic materials. We compare our results with the available experimental data for TaAs: the agreement is excellent for $σ_{xx}$, while $σ_{zz}$ is overestimated, probably due to differences in experimental carrier concentrations. The Seebeck coefficient is of the same order of magnitude in theory and experiments, and we find that its low-T behavior also strongly depends on the doping level.
title First-principles calculations of transport coefficients in Weyl semimetal TaAs
topic Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.15522