Observation of the orbital Nernst effect

Abstract

The Nernst effect, which converts a temperature gradient into a transverse charge current, is fundamental to thermoelectrics. Its spin analogue, the spin Nernst effect, enables thermal generation of transverse spin currents and is central to spin caloritronics. Recently, the discovery of orbital currents, the orbital counterpart of spin currents, has extended angular-momentum transport beyond spin, leading to the prediction of the orbital Nernst effect, in which a temperature gradient drives a transverse orbital current. However, experimental evidence for this effect has been lacking. Here, we report the observation of the orbital Nernst effect in Ti. Using Ni electrodes on Ti, we detect a thermally induced voltage that depends on the magnetization direction and scales linearly with the temperature gradient. This voltage is strongly suppressed both when Ni is replaced with Ni$_{81}$Fe$_{19}$ and when Ti is replaced with Cr, providing strong evidence that the signal originates from the orbital Nernst effect rather than the anomalous Nernst or spin Nernst effect. These results establish thermally driven orbital transport, opening a pathway toward orbital caloritronics.