Ab Initio Study of Chiral Phonons in Ternary YAlSi Compound

Abstract

Ternary compound YAlSi crystallizes with orthorhombic Cmcm symmetry. This structure contains Y–Si pairs of atoms, creating honeycomb-like sublattices. In this paper, we investigate the dynamical properties of the system, focusing on the chiral modes. These modes are associated with the circular motion of the atoms. We show that the chiral modes can be realized in the YAlSi compound, and it makes this compound suitable for further experimental study of the chiral phonons.