Caloric phenomena and Stirling-cycle performance in Heisenberg-Kitaev magnon systems
Phys. Rev. E 114, 014132 – Published 16 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/msbk-z1mc
Abstract
We investigate the Stirling-cycle performance of a Heisenberg–Kitaev magnonic medium with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interactions. Using linear spin-wave theory, we show the DM interaction preserves spectral symmetry, yielding even caloric responses and symmetric Stirling engine efficiency. In contrast, bond-dependent Kitaev exchange asymmetrically distorts the magnonic density of states, enabling distinct direct and inverse caloric effects. Consequently, Kitaev-driven cycles achieve significantly higher efficiencies than DM-driven protocols, approaching a high-performance saturation regime for negative couplings. This establishes exchange-anisotropic magnets as highly tunable platforms for nanoscale solid-state energy conversion.
