Bi-altermagnetism unveiled by sublattice-specific circular dichroism in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

TL;DR

This paper introduces bi-altermagnetism in Fe2Mo3O8, identified via sublattice-specific circular dichroism in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, revealing mirror-symmetry breaking in a zero-magnetization system.

Contribution

It demonstrates the use of RIXS-CD to detect bi-altermagnetism and provides experimental evidence of symmetry breaking in a new class of altermagnetic materials.

Findings

CD appears at sublattice-specific excitations

Bi-altermagnetic order reproduces observed CD signals

Evidence of mirror-symmetry breaking in Fe2Mo3O8

Abstract

An altermagnet is a recently identified class of magnets that exhibit a zero net magnetic moment but break symmetry under the combined operations of parity and time reversal. It typically consists of two magnetic sites of opposite spins related by rotation within the unit cell. Here, we use circular dichroism (CD) in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) to identify a new form of altermagnetism, namely bi-altermagnetism, in the correlated insulator Fe2Mo3O8, which comprises two altermagnetic sublattices: one with alternating quasi-octahedral Fe environments and the other with alternating tetrahedral Fe environments. We experimentally revealed the emergence of CD in an achiral, zero-magnetization system, thereby probing mirror-symmetry breaking associated with altermagnetic order. Notably, the CD appeared at sublattice-specific excitations of the octahedral and tetrahedral sites, indicating symmetry breaking in both altermagnetic sublattices. Calculations based on a model with the bi-altermagnetic order along the c axis successfully reproduce the observed CD. Our findings provide compelling evidence for bi-altermagnetism in Fe2Mo3O8, and showcase the use of RIXS-CD as a probe of magnetic sublattices in systems with zero net magnetization.