Enhanced thermal Hall effect in nearly ferroelectric insulators*

In the context of recent experimental observations of an unexpectedly large thermal Hall conductivity, κ_H, in insulating La2CuO4 (LCO) and SrTiO3 (STO), we theoretically explore conditions under which acoustic phonons can give rise to such a large κH. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to κ_H are large in proportion to the dielectric constant, ε, and the “flexoelectric” coupling, F. While the intrinsic contribution is still orders of magnitude smaller than the observed effect, an extrinsic contribution proportional to the phonon mean-free path appears likely to account for the observations, at least in STO. We predict a larger intrinsic κ_H in certain insulating perovskites.