Observation of anomalous thermal Hall effect in altermagnets

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of an anomalous phonon thermal Hall effect in altermagnets, linking magnetic structure to lattice vibrations and offering new avenues for phononic devices and quantum magnet identification.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of the anomalous phonon thermal Hall effect in altermagnets, a new class of quantum magnets, highlighting their unique magnetic and thermal properties.

Findings

Observed a pronounced anomalous phonon thermal Hall signal in MnTe and CrSb.

No electrical Hall effect observed, indicating phonon-specific phenomenon.

Links the Néel vector to lattice vibrations, revealing a new magnetic-phonon coupling mechanism.

Abstract

Altermagnets, recently proposed as a third category of collinear magnets, combine the features of zero net magnetization in antiferromagnets and the spin splitting in ferromagnets. While abundant spectroscopic evidence for altermagnetism has been reported, experimental observation of the anomalous Hall effect, a hallmark of ferromagnetism, remains scarce. Here, we shift the paradigm from charge to heat carriers and report the systematic study of the thermal Hall effect in two representative altermagnet candidates, MnTe and CrSb. In both materials, we observe a pronounced anomalous phonon thermal Hall signal, with no electrical counterpart observed, attributed to the coupling of this distinctive magnetic structure with phonons. Our findings establish the anomalous phonon thermal Hall effect as an intrinsic feature of altermagnets, and provide a sensitive probe to identify this new kind of quantum magnets. The anomalous phonon thermal Hall effect in altermagnets directly links the N\'eel vector to lattice vibrations, opening prospects for low-loss phononic devices and thermally readable memories.