arXiv subjects

Karma Tenzin

Publications and source records attributed to Karma Tenzin.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dominant orbital magnetization in the prototypical altermagnet MnTe

Altermagnetism is an unconventional form of antiferromagnetism characterized by momentum-dependent spin polarization of electronic states and zero net magnetization, arising from specific crystalline symmetries. In the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and broken time-reversal symmetry, altermagnets can exhibit finite net magnetization and anomalous Hall effect (AHE), phenomena typically associated with ferromagnets. Due to the dependence of AHE on magnetization, understanding the interplay between spin and orbital contributions to magnetization is essential for interpreting experiments and designing altermagnetic devices. In this work, we use density functional theory to investigate the intrinsic spin and orbital magnetization of the magnetic ground state of the prototypical altermagnet α-MnTe. We find that SOC induces weak ferromagnetism through spin canting, accompanied by a slight in-plane rotation of the Néel vector. Notably, we identify a significant net orbital magnetization of 0.176 μB per unit cell oriented along the z-axis, while the spin magnetization in the same direction is much smaller at 0.002 μB. By varying the chemical potential, we show that the spin magnetization is tunable through hole doping, whereas the orbital magnetization remains robust against carrier density changes. These results highlight the important role of orbital magnetization and establish its relevance for orbital-based phenomena in altermagnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Multipole analysis of spin currents in altermagnetic MnTe

Altermagnets, a class of unconventional antiferromagnets where antiparallel spins are connected by combined rotational and translational symmetries, have recently emerged as promising candidates for spintronic applications, as they can efficiently generate spin currents while maintaining vanishing net magnetization. Here, we investigate charge transport and spin currents in $α$-MnTe, a prototypical altermagnet, using symmetry analysis within the multipole framework and fully relativistic first-principles calculations using the Kubo formalism. Our results show that different magnetic configurations with Néel vectors $\hat{N}\parallel y$ and $\hat{N}\parallel x$ in MnTe induce distinct order parameters. This distinction gives rise to spin-momentum locking with different parities and magnetic spin Hall effects (magnetic SHEs) with different anisotropies. Strikingly, our calculations show that the combination of intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and altermagnetic spin splitting yields a large magnetic spin Hall angle of up to 16 \% rivaling or exceeding that of heavy metals such as Pt. On the other hand, the anisotropy of the magnetic SHE provides a practical means to identify the type of order parameter. This establishes, through the powerful framework of multipoles, a general approach for studying transport phenomena that extends to a broader class of altermagnets beyond MnTe.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Persistent spin texture preserved by local symmetry in graphene/WTe$_2$ heterostructure

Crystal symmetries in solids give rise to spin-momentum locking, which determines how an electron's spin orientation depends on its momentum. This relationship, often referred to as spin texture, influences both charge-to-spin conversion and spin relaxation, making it one of the essential characteristics for spin-orbit-driven phenomena. Materials with strong spin-orbit coupling and broken inversion symmetry can host persistent spin textures (PSTs) - unidirectional spin configurations in momentum space, supporting efficient charge-to-spin conversion and extended spin lifetimes. Monolayer WTe$_2$, a topological material crystallizing in a rectangular lattice, is a notable example; its symmetry enforces a canted PST enabling quantum spin Hall effect with the nontrivial spin orientation. Here, we use first-principles calculations to explore how these properties are modified when WTe$_2$ is interfaced with graphene. We find that the PST is preserved by the local symmetry present in different regions of the heterostructure, while the system develops extended electron and hole pockets, resulting in semimetallic behavior. Although the band gap closes and eliminates the quantum spin Hall phase, spin Hall effects remain robust in both conventional and unconventional geometries. The computed spin Hall conductivities are comparable to those of other two-dimensional materials, and the survival of the PST suggests the possibility of long-range spin transport even in the absence of topological edge states. In addition, the graphene layer serves as an oxidation barrier, helping protect the intrinsic properties of WTe$_2$ and supporting the potential of this heterostructure for spintronic applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Persistent spin textures, altermagnetism and charge-to-spin conversion in metallic chiral crystals TM$_{3}$X$_{6}$

Chiral crystals, due to the lack of inversion and mirror symmetries, exhibit unique spin responses to external fields, enabling physical effects rarely observed in high-symmetry systems. Here, we show that materials from the chiral dichalcogenide family TM$_3$X$_6$ (T = 3d, M = 4d/5d, X = S) exhibit persistent spin texture (PST) - unidirectional spin polarization of states across large regions of the reciprocal space - in their nonmagnetic metallic phase. Using the example of NiTa$_{3}$S$_{6}$ and NiNb$_{3}$S$_{6}$, we show that PSTs cover the full Fermi surface, a rare and desirable feature that enables efficient charge-to-spin conversion and suggests long spin lifetimes and coherent spin transport above magnetic ordering temperatures. At low temperatures, the materials that order antiferromagnetically become chiral altermagnets, where spin textures originating from spin-orbit coupling and altermagnetism combine in a way that sensitively depends on the orientation of the Neel vector. Using symmetry analysis and first-principles calculations, we classify magnetic ground states across the family, identify cases with weak ferromagnetism, and track the evolution of spin textures and charge-to-spin conversion across magnetic phases and different Neel vector orientations, revealing spin transport signatures that allow one to distinguish Neel vector directions. These findings establish TM$_3$X$_6$ as a tunable platform for efficient charge-to-spin conversion and spin transport, combining structural chirality, persistent spin textures, and altermagnetism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Energy-efficient field-free unconventional spin-orbit torque magnetization switching dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure of two-dimensional (2D) quantum materials offers a promising platform for efficient control of magnetization dynamics for non-volatile spin-based devices. However, energy-efficient field-free spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching and spin dynamics experiments to understand the basic SOT phenomena in all-2D vdW heterostructures are so far lacking. Here, we demonstrate energy-efficient field-free spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching and tunable magnetization dynamics in a vdW heterostructure comprising out-of-plane magnet Fe3GaTe2 and topological Weyl semimetal TaIrTe4. We measured the non-linear second harmonic Hall signal in TaIrTe4 /Fe3GaTe2 devices to evaluate the SOT-induced magnetization dynamics, which is characterized by a large and tunable out-of-plane damping-like torque. Energy-efficient and deterministic field-free SOT magnetization switching is achieved at room temperature with a very low current density. First-principles calculations unveil the origin of the unconventional charge-spin conversion phenomena, considering the crystal symmetry and electronic structure of TaIrTe4. These results establish that all-vdW heterostructures provide a promising route to energy-efficient, field-free, and tunable SOT-based spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Efficient spin accumulation carried by slow relaxons in chiral tellurium

Efficient conversion between charge currents and spin signals is crucial for realizing magnet-free spintronic devices. However, the strong spin-orbit coupling that enables such a conversion, causes rapid relaxation of spins, making them difficult to transport over large length scales. Here, we show that spin-momentum entanglement at the Fermi surface of chiral tellurium crystals leads to the appearance of slow collective relaxation modes. These modes, called relaxons, resemble the persistent spin helix, a collective spin-wave excitation with extended lifetime observed in quantum wells. The slow relaxons dominate the electrically generated spin and orbital angular momentum accumulation in tellurium and make it possible to combine a very high 50% conversion efficiency with a long spin lifetime. These results, obtained from the exact solution of the Boltzmann transport equation, show that chiral crystals can be used for highly efficient generation and transmission of spin signals over long distances in spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Robust Zeeman-type band splitting in sliding ferroelectrics

Transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit giant spin-orbit coupling, and intriguing spin-valley effects, which can be harnessed through proximity in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. Remarkably, due to the prismatic crystal field, the Zeeman-type band splitting of valence bands reach values of several hundreds of meV. While this effect is suppressed in the commonly studied hexagonal (H)-stacked bilayers due to the presence of inversion symmetry, the recent discovery of sliding ferroelectricity in rhombohedral (R-)stacked MX$_2$ bilayers (M=Mo, W; X=S, Se) suggests that the Zeeman effect could be present in these non-centrosymmetric configurations, making it even more intriguing to investigate how the spin-resolved bands would evolve during the phase transition. Here, we perform density functional theory calculations complemented by symmetry analysis to unveil the evolution of ferroelectricity during sliding and the behavior of Zeeman splitting along the transition path. While the evolution of the out-of-plane component of the electric polarization vector resembles the conventional ferroelectric transition, we observe significant in-plane components parallel to the sliding direction, reaching their maximum at the intermediate state. Moreover, we demonstrate that the R-stacked bilayers exhibit persistent Zeeman-type band splitting throughout the transition path, allowed by the lack of inversion symmetry. Further analysis of different stacking configurations generated by sliding along various directions confirms that the Zeeman effect in MX$_2$, primarily arising from the polarity of prismatic ligand coordination of the metal atom, is remarkably robust and completely governs the spin polarization of bands, independently of the sliding direction. This resilience promises robust spin transport in vdW based MX$_2$ bilayers, opening new opportunities for ferroelectric spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Collinear Rashba-Edelstein effect in non-magnetic chiral materials

Efficient generation and manipulation of spin signals in a given material without invoking external magnetism remain one of the challenges in spintronics. The spin Hall effect (SHE) and Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE) are well-known mechanisms to electrically generate spin accumulation in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC), but the exact role of the strength and type of SOC, especially in crystals with low symmetry, has yet to be explained. In this study, we investigate REE in two different families of non-magnetic chiral materials, elemental semiconductors (Te and Se) and semimetallic disilicides (TaSi$_2$ and NbSi$_2$), using an approach based on density functional theory (DFT). By analyzing spin textures across the full Brillouin zones and comparing them with REE magnitudes calculated as a function of chemical potential, we link specific features in the electronic structure with the efficiency of the induced spin accumulation. Our findings show that magnitudes of REE can be increased by: (i) the presence of purely radial (Weyl-type) spin texture manifesting as the parallel spin-momentum locking, (ii) high spin polarization of bands along one specific crystallographic direction, (iii) low band velocities. By comparing materials possessing the same crystal structures, but different strengths of SOC, we conclude that larger SOC may indirectly contribute to the enhancement of REE. It yields greater spin-splitting of bands along specific crystallographic directions, which prevents canceling the contributions from the oppositely spin-polarized bands over wider energy regions and helps maintain larger REE magnitudes. We believe that these results will be useful for designing spintronics devices and may aid further computational studies searching for efficient REE in materials with different symmetries and SOC strengths.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Long-range current-induced spin accumulation in chiral crystals

Chiral materials, similarly to human hands, have distinguishable right-handed and left-handed enantiomers which may behave differently in response to external stimuli. Here, we use for the first time an approach based on the density functional theory (DFT)+PAOFLOW calculations to quantitatively estimate the so-called collinear Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE) that generates spin accumulation parallel to charge current and can manifest as chirality-dependent charge-to-spin conversion in chiral crystals. Importantly, we reveal that the spin accumulation induced in the bulk by an electric current is intrinsically protected by the quasi-persistent spin helix arising from the crystal symmetries present in chiral systems with the Weyl spin-orbit coupling. In contrast to conventional REE, spin transport can be preserved over large distances, in agreement with the recent observations for some chiral materials. This allows, for example, the generation of spin currents from spin accumulation, opening novel routes for the design of solid-state spintronics devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Analogs of Rashba-Edelstein effect from density functional theory

Studies of structure-property relationships in spintronics are essential for the design of materials that can fill specific roles in devices. For example, materials with low symmetry allow unconventional configurations of charge-to-spin conversion which can be used to generate efficient spin-orbit torques. Here, we explore the relationship between crystal symmetry and geometry of the Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE) that causes spin accumulation in response to an applied electric current. Based on a symmetry analysis performed for 230 crystallographic space groups, we identify classes of materials that can host conventional or collinear REE. Although transverse spin accumulation is commonly associated with the so-called 'Rashba materials', we show that the presence of specific spin texture does not easily translate to the configuration of REE. More specifically, bulk crystals may simultaneously host different types of spin-orbit fields, depending on the crystallographic point group and the symmetry of the specific $k$-vector, which, averaged over the Brillouin zone, determine the direction and magnitude of the induced spin accumulation. To explore the connection between crystal symmetry, spin texture, and the magnitude of REE, we perform first-principles calculations for representative materials with different symmetries. We believe that our results will be helpful for further computational and experimental studies, as well as the design of spintronics devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗