Phys.org December 11, 2024
The presence of net magnetization limits device scalability and compatibility with phases, such as superconductors and topological insulators. Altermagnetism has been proposed as a solution to these restrictions combined with the antiferromagnetic-like vanishing net magnetization. So far, altermagnetic ordering has been inferred from spatially averaged probes. An international team of researchers (UK, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany) demonstrated nanoscale imaging of altermagnetic states from 100-nanometre-scale vortices and domain walls to 10-micrometre-scale single-domain states in manganese telluride. They combined the time-reversal-symmetry-breaking sensitivity of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism with magnetic linear dichroism to achieve maps of the local altermagnetic ordering vector. According to the researchers their work paves the way for future experimental studies across the theoretically predicted research landscape of altermagnetism, including unconventional spin-polarization phenomena, the interplay of altermagnetism with superconducting and topological phases, and highly scalable digital and neuromorphic spintronic devices… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Mapping an altermagnetic vortex pair in MnTe… show the direction of the altermagnetic ordering within the material. Credit: Nature volume 636, pages348–353, 11 December 2024