Robust $d$-wave altermagnetism in $\mathrm{XCr_2Y_2O}$ (X=K, Rb, Cs; Y=S, Se, Te) family

TL;DR

This paper predicts that the compound RbCr2Se2O is a robust d-wave altermagnetic metal with potential for experimental verification and strain-induced magnetic effects, expanding the family of altermagnets.

Contribution

It introduces RbCr2Se2O as a new robust altermagnetic metal and demonstrates its strain-tunable magnetic properties, broadening the class of altermagnetic materials.

Findings

RbCr2Se2O is a stable d-wave altermagnetic metal.

Applying in-plane uniaxial strain induces a net magnetic moment.

The material's properties are universal across the XCr2Y2O family.

Abstract

The $\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O}$, $\mathrm{Rb_{1-\delta}V_2Te_2O}$ and $\mathrm{Cs_{1-\delta}V_2Te_2O}$ are experimentally confirmed to adopt either C-type or G-type antiferromagnetic configuration, corresponding to apparent or hidden altermagnetism. However, their nearly degenerate energies lead to inconsistent experimental assignments between the two antiferromagnetic configurations. Here, we predict that the experimentally synthesized $\mathrm{RbCr_2Se_2O}$ is a robust $d$-wave altermagnetic metal, since the energy difference between C-type and G-type configurations is large, which is independent of electron correlation strength and van der Waals interaction. Upon applying in-plane uniaxial strain, $\mathrm{RbCr_2Se_2O}$ can generate a net total magnetic moment via a direct piezomagnetic effect, which is distinct from semiconductor that typically requires carrier doping in addition to strain. This provides an experimental strategy for distinguishing the G-type antiferromagnetic configuration, in which the total magnetic moment remains zero under uniaxial strain. Our work presents an isostructural $d$-wave altermagnetic $\mathrm{RbCr_2Se_2O}$ analogous to $\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O}$, $\mathrm{Rb_{1-\delta}V_2Te_2O}$ and $\mathrm{Cs_{1-\delta}V_2Te_2O}$, which can facilitate further experimental verification. Furthermore, these results are universal across materials of this family $\mathrm{XCr_2Y_2O}$ (X=K, Rb, Cs; Y=S, Se, Te), thus expanding the family of altermagnets.