Electrical switching of altermagnetism

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method for electrically switching altermagnetism by breaking parity symmetry, identifying MnTe bilayers as promising candidates through symmetry analysis and computational methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to switch altermagnetic states electrically by leveraging symmetry breaking, with specific candidate materials identified.

Findings

Parity symmetry breaking enables deterministic electrical switching.

MnTe bilayers are identified as suitable candidates for altermagnetic switching.

The approach combines symmetry analysis, first-principles calculations, and magnetic simulations.

Abstract

Switching magnetism using only electricity is of great significance for industrial applications but remains challenging. We find that, altermagnetism, as a newly discovered unconventional magnetism, may open an avenue along this effort. Specifically, to have deterministic switching, i.e., reversing current direction must reverse magnetic structure, parity symmetry has to be broken. We discover that, due to their symmetry which depends on chemical environments, altermagnet devices may naturally carry the parity symmetry breaking required for deterministic electrical switching of magnetism. More importantly, we identify MnTe bilayers (Te-Mn-Te-Mn-Te) as candidate devices, with the help of symmetry analysis, first-principles calculations, and magnetic dynamics simulations. This scheme will inspire further explorations on unconventional magnetism.