Piezomagnetic Properties in Altermagnetic MnTe

TL;DR

This paper investigates the piezomagnetic effect in MnTe, an altermagnetic candidate, demonstrating its potential for controlling antiferromagnetic domains and detecting broken time reversal symmetry at room temperature.

Contribution

It provides the first measurement of the piezomagnetic coefficient in MnTe and shows how stress can control antiferromagnetic domains in altermagnetic materials.

Findings

Piezomagnetic coefficient Q is 1.38×10^{-8} μB/MPa at 300 K.

Magnetization develops under applied stress.

Antiferromagnetic domains can be controlled via the piezomagnetic effect.

Abstract

We examined the piezomagnetic effect in an antiferromagnet composed of MnTe, which is a candidate material for altermagnetism with a high critical temperature. We observed that the magnetization develops with the application of stress and revealed that the piezomagnetic coefficient Q is 1.38$\times10^{-8}$ ${\mu}$B/MPa at 300 K. The poling-field dependence of magnetization indicates that the antiferromagnetic domain can be controlled using the piezomagnetic effect. We demonstrate that the piezomagnetic effect is suitable for detecting and controlling the broken time reversal symmetry in altermagnets.