Nanoscale electronic variations in altermagnetic $\alpha$-MnTe

TL;DR

This study uses scanning tunneling microscopy to reveal nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity in altermagnetic $ extalpha$-MnTe, highlighting the importance of local characterization for its potential electronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first nanoscale electronic landscape map of $ extalpha$-MnTe, showing distinct electronic regions and charge modulations that influence its magnetic and electronic properties.

Findings

Two distinct electronic regions with different chemical potentials.

Observation of incommensurate charge modulation in one region.

Significant electronic non-uniformity at the nanoscale.

Abstract

Altermagnets exhibit spin-split electronic bands like ferromagnets, yet they are magnetically compensated like collinear antiferromagnets. Altermagnets thus combine the benefits of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, opening routes to tailored materials and applications. However, reported bulk signatures such as the anomalous Hall response in candidate altermagnets have been inconsistent across samples, suggesting that inhomogeneity may affect their functionality in electronic devices. Here, we use low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to map the local electronic landscape of $\alpha$-MnTe on atomically flat cleaved single crystals. We resolve two distinct electronic regions. In Region A, the chemical potential lies near the valence-band edge and varies by $\sim$100 meV on the nanometer length scale. In Region B, the chemical potential lies near the middle of a wider band gap. We further identify an incommensurate charge modulation with periodicity (2.5$\pm$0.1)$a$, observed exclusively in Region A. Our work establishes that $\alpha$-MnTe can exhibit significant electronic non-uniformity, suggesting that nanoscale characterization is essential for its reliable use in electronic applications.