Geometry induced net spin polarization of $d$-wave altermagnets

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the geometry of rectangular altermagnetic samples induces a net spin polarization, which can be detected through transport measurements, offering a new control mechanism for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It reveals that sample geometry, specifically rectangular shape with unequal dimensions, induces finite spin polarization in altermagnets, a phenomenon absent in symmetric or infinite samples.

Findings

Rectangular samples with L_x ≠ L_y exhibit finite spin polarization.

Spin polarization vanishes in the symmetric limit L_x = L_y and in the thermodynamic limit.

Transport measurements can detect the geometry-induced spin polarization.

Abstract

Altermagnets exhibit spin-split electronic bandstructures despite having zero net magnetization, making them attractive for field-free spintronic applications. In this work, we show that a finite rectangular altermagnetic sample can acquire a net spin polarization purely due to its geometry. This effect arises from the interplay between the anisotropic, spin-resolved Fermi contours of an altermagnet, the discrete sampling of momentum space and unequal sample dimensions. By explicitly counting occupied states, we demonstrate that rectangular samples with $L_x \neq L_y$ host a finite spin polarization, which vanishes in the symmetric limit $L_x=L_y$ and in the thermodynamic limit. We further show that this geometry-induced spin polarization can be directly probed in transport measurements. In the tunneling regime, the charge and the spin conductances exhibit characteristic patterns as a function of sample dimensions, faithfully reflecting the underlying spin polarization. In addition, transport across ferromagnet--altermagnet--ferromagnet junctions reveals an asymmetric magnetoresistance with respect to reversal of the Zeeman field, providing an independent transport signature of the finite spin polarization. Our results establish geometry as an effective control parameter for spin polarization in altermagnets and suggest a viable route for exploiting finite-size effects in mesoscopic altermagnetic spintronic devices.