Nanoscale imaging and control of altermagnetism in MnTe

Authors

O. J. Amin, A. Dal Din, E. Golias, Y. Niu, A. Zakharov, S. C. Fromage, C. J. B. Fields, S. L. Heywood, R. B. Cousins, J. Krempasky, J. H. Dil, D. Kriegner, B. Kiraly, R. P. Campion, A. W. Rushforth, K. W. Edmonds, S. S. Dhesi, L. Šmejkal, T. Jungwirth, P. Wadley

Laboratory / Department
Department of Spintronics and Nanoelectronics
DOI
10.1038/s41586-024-08234-x
Year
2024

The family of magnetic materials has been traditionally divided into the ferromagnetic branch known for several millennia and the antiferromagnetic branch known for nearly a century. Researchers from the Institute of Physics published in Nature in the beginning of 2024 the experimental discovery of a new branch of the magnetic family, termed altermagnetic. In this follow-up publication, they reveal the first direct microscopic images of an altermagnet.

3-3_Nanoscale imaging and control of altermagnetism in MnTe_Fig_Nature.jpg

Microscopic map of magnetic ordering in altermagnetic MnTe, obtained using synchrotron radiation.