Phonon-Induced Collective Modes in Spin-Orbit Coupled Polar Metals

Abstract: We study the interplay between collective electronic and lattice modes in polar metals in an applied magnetic field aligned with the polar axis. Static spin-orbit coupling leads to the appearance of a particle-hole spin-flip continuum that is gapped at low energies in a finite field. We find that a weak spin-orbit assisted coupling between electrons and polar phonons induces the emergence of electronic collective modes. The strength of the applied magnetic field tunes the number of modes and their energies, which can lie both above and below the particle-hole continuum. For a range of field values, we identify Fano-like interference between the electronic continuum and phonons. We show that signatures of these collective modes can be observed in electron spin resonance experiments, and we provide the corresponding theoretical predictions.