Month: December 2024

23.12.2024 New Publication in Altermagnetism

A publication with Jairo Sinova, Libor Šmejkal and Olena Gomonay on altermagnetic variants in thin films of M⁢n5⁢S⁢i3 has been publised in Physical Review B.

The altermagnet candidate M⁢n5⁢S⁢i3 has attracted wide attention in the context of nonrelativistic spin physics, due to its composition of light elements. In this study, we demonstrate a hallmark of altermagnetism in M⁢n5⁢S⁢i3 thin films, namely the three options, or variants, for the checkerboard distribution of the magnetic Mn atoms. The magnetic symmetries were altered by field-rotation of the Néel vector along relevant crystal directions, resulting in anomalous Hall effect anisotropy. The experimental results in nanoscale devices were corroborated by a theoretical model involving atomic site dependent anisotropy and bulk Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction for a single variant. These findings elevate M⁢n5⁢S⁢i3 from a candidate to a proven altermagnet.

You can find the publication under Phys. Rev. B 110, L220411 (2024).