The crystal structure of altermagnetic CrSb: the colored bubbles around the Cr atoms (blue) correspond to iso-spin density surfaces. Their anisotropy enables spin polarized currents. Credit: ill./: Libor Å mejkal and Anna Birk Hellenes / JGU
Altermagnets represent a newly recognized class of materials in magnetism that could enable novel applications in spin-based electronics. Their magnetically ordered state consists of an antiparallel arrangement of microscopic magnetic moments, so-called spins, as in antiferromagnets.
In contrast to antiferromagnetism, however, the altermagnetic state with zero net-magnetization enables the generation of electrical currents with spin polarization, as required in spin-based electronics. Thus, altermagnets combine the advantages of antiferromagnets, i.e., ultrafast dynamics, and ferromagnets, i.e., large spin polarization.
In collaboration with a theoretical team led by Professor Jairo Sinova and Dr. Libor Å mejkal, experimental physicist Dr. Sonka Reimers and her colleagues in Professor Mathias Kläui's lab at the Institute of Â鶹ÒùÔºics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have demonstrated altermagnetic electronic band splitting associated with spin polarization in CrSb.
"The magnitude of this spitting, observed in a good conductor and at room temperature, is extraordinary and promising with regard to electronic applications of altermagnetic materials", said Professor Martin Jourdan, coordinator of the study recently in Nature Communications.
More information: Sonka Reimers et al, Direct observation of altermagnetic band splitting in CrSb thin films, Nature Communications (2024).
Journal information: Nature Communications
Provided by Universitaet Mainz
