Nanoscale imaging and control of altermagnetism in MnTe
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Amin, O. J.; Dal Din, A.; Golias, E.; Niu, Y.; Zakharov, A.; Fromage, S. C.; Fields, C. J. B.; Heywood, S. L.; Cousins, R. B.; Maccherozzi, F.; Krempask, J.; Dil, J. H.; Kriegner, D.; Kiraly, B.; Campion, R. P.; Rushforth, A. W.; Edmonds, K. W.; Dhesi, S. S.; Smejkal, L.; Jungwirth, T.; Wadley, P.
署名单位：
University of Nottingham; Diamond Light Source; University of Nottingham; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Paul Scherrer Institute; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Czech Academy of Sciences; Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Max Planck Society; Max Planck Society; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
刊物名称：
Nature
ISSN/ISSBN：
0028-3764
DOI：
10.1038/s41586-024-08234-x
发表日期：
2024-12-12
页码：
348-+
关键词：
摘要：
Nanoscale detection and control of the magnetic order underpins a spectrum of condensed-matter research and device functionalities involving magnetism. The key principle involved is the breaking of time-reversal symmetry, which in ferromagnets is generated by an internal magnetization. However, the presence of a net magnetization limits device scalability and compatibility with phases, such as superconductors and topological insulators. Recently, altermagnetism has been proposed as a solution to these restrictions, as it shares the enabling time-reversal-symmetry-breaking characteristic of ferromagnetism, combined with the antiferromagnetic-like vanishing net magnetization(1-4). So far, altermagnetic ordering has been inferred from spatially averaged probes(4-19). Here we demonstrate nanoscale imaging of altermagnetic states from 100-nanometre-scale vortices and domain walls to 10-micrometre-scale single-domain states in manganese telluride (MnTe)(2,7,9,14-16,18,20,21). We combine the time-reversal-symmetry-breaking sensitivity of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism(12) with magnetic linear dichroism and photoemission electron microscopy to achieve maps of the local altermagnetic ordering vector. A variety of spin configurations are imposed using microstructure patterning and thermal cycling in magnetic fields. The demonstrated detection and controlled formation of altermagnetic spin configurations paves the way for future experimental studies across the theoretically predicted research landscape of altermagnetism, including unconventional spin-polarization phenomena, the interplay of altermagnetism with superconducting and topological phases, and highly scalable digital and neuromorphic spintronic devices(3,14,22-24).
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