arXiv subjects

Libor Šmejkal

Publications and source records attributed to Libor Šmejkal.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Altermagnetism: Exploring New Frontiers in Magnetism and Spintronics

Recent developments have introduced a groundbreaking form of collinear magnetism known as "altermagnetism". This emerging magnetic phase is characterized by robust time-reversal symmetry breaking, antiparallel magnetic order, and alternating spin-splitting band structures, yet it exhibits vanishing net magnetization constrained by symmetry. Altermagnetism uniquely integrates traits previously considered mutually exclusive to conventional collinear ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, thereby facilitating phenomena and functionalities previously not achievable within these traditional categories of magnetism. Initially proposed theoretically, the existence of the altermagnetic phase has since been corroborated by a range of experimental studies, which have confirmed its unique properties and potential for applications. This review explores the rapidly expanding research on altermagnets, emphasizing the novel physical phenomena they manifest, methodologies for inducing altermagnetism, and promising altermagnetic materials. The goal of this review is to furnish readers with a comprehensive overview of altermagnetism and to inspire further innovative studies on altermagnetic materials which could potentially revolutionize applications in technology and materials science.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

P-wave magnets

The p-wave Cooper-pairing instability in superfluid $^{3}$He, characterized by a parity-breaking excitation gap, is regarded as one of the most rich and complex phenomena in physics. The possibility of a counterpart unconventional p-wave ordering of interacting fermions, in which a Fermi surface spontaneously breaks the parity symmetry, has been an open problem for many decades. Here we identify the realization of the counterpart of p-wave superfluidity in magnetism. We demonstrate a strong parity-breaking and anisotropic symmetry lowering of spin-polarized and time-reversal symmetric Fermi surfaces in a representative p-wave magnet CeNiAsO. As a direct experimental signature we predict a large spontaneous anisotropy of the resistivity. Abundant and robust realizations of the unconventional p-wave magnetism can be identified from suitable non-relativistic crystal-lattice and spin symmetries, without requiring strong correlations and extreme external conditions. This opens new prospects in fields ranging from topological phenomena to spintronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

A tool to check whether a symmetry-compensated collinear magnetic material is antiferro- or altermagnetic

Altermagnets (AM) is a recently discovered class of collinear magnets that share some properties (anomalous transport, etc) with ferromagnets, some (zero net magnetization) with antiferromagnets, while also exhibiting unique properties (spin-splitting of electronic bands and resulting spin-splitter current). Since the moment compensation in AM is driven by symmetry, it must be possible to identify them by analyzing the crystal structure directly, without computing the electronic structure. Given the significant potential of AM for spintronics, it is very useful to have a tool for such an analysis. This work presents an open-access code implementing such a direct check.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Spontaneous Crystal Thermal Hall Effect in Insulating Altermagnets

We show that magnetic insulators with a collinear and compensated order can exhibit a thermal Hall effect even at zero magnetic field if they have altermagnetic symmetries. We predict a finite thermal Hall conductivity vector $\boldsymbolκ_\text{H}$ for a rutile-inspired effective spin model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Within the linear spin-wave theory, we identify two magnon branches that carry identical Berry curvature and give rise to a finite $\boldsymbolκ_\text{H}$, which can be controlled by the Néel vector orientation and by strain. The thermal Hall response is further complemented with a spin Nernst response to contrast spin and heat transport in altermagnetic insulators with those in ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Our results establish the crystal thermal Hall effect of magnons and we discuss material candidates for experimental realization, such as MnF$_2$, CoF$_2$, and NiF$_2$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Anomalous Nernst effect in the noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn$_5$Si$_3$

Investigating the off-diagonal components of the conductivity and thermoelectric tensor of materials hosting complex antiferromagnetic structures has become a viable method to reveal the effects of topology and chirality on the electronic transport in these systems. In this respect, Mn$_5$Si$_3$ is an interesting metallic compound that exhibits several antiferromagnetic phases below 100 K with different collinear and noncollinear arrangements of Mn magnetic moments. Previous investigations have shown that the transitions between the various phases give rise to large changes of the anomalous Hall effect. Here, we report measurements of the anomalous Nernst effect of Mn$_5$Si$_3$ single crystals. Below 25 K we observe a sign change of the zero-field Nernst signal with a concomitant decrease of the Hall signal and a gradual reduction of the remanent magnetization which we attribute to a subtle rearrangement of the magnetic moment configuration at low temperatures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Observation of the anomalous Nernst effect in altermagnetic candidate Mn5Si3

The anomalous Nernst effect generates transverse voltage to the applied thermal gradient in magnetically ordered systems. The effect was previously considered excluded in compensated magnetic materials with collinear ordering. However, in the recently identified class of compensated magnetic materials, dubbed altermagnets, time-reversal symmetry breaking in the electronic band structure makes the presence of the anomalous Nernst effect possible despite the collinear spin arrangement. In this work, we investigate epitaxial Mn5Si3 thin films known to be an altermagnetic candidate. We show that the material manifests a sizable anomalous Nernst coefficient despite the small net magnetization of the films. The measured magnitudes of the anomalous Nernst coefficient reach a scale of microVolts per Kelvin. We support our magneto-thermoelectric measurements by density-functional theory calculations of the material's spin-split electronic structure, which allows for the finite Berry curvature in the reciprocal space. Furthermore, we present our calculations of the intrinsic Berry-curvature Nernst conductivity, which agree with our experimental observations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Spontaneous Formation of Altermagnetism from Orbital Ordering

Altermagnetism has emerged as a third type of collinear magnetism. In contrast to standard ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, altermagnets exhibit extra even-parity wave spin order parameters resulting in a spin-splitting of electronic bands in momentum space. In real space, sublattices of opposite spin polarization are anisotropic and related by rotational symmetry. In the hitherto identified altermagnetic candidate materials the anisotropies arise from the local crystallographic symmetry. Here, we show that altermagnetism can also form as an interaction-induced electronic instability in a lattice without the crystallographic sublattice anisotropy. We provide a microscopic example of a two-orbital model showing that the coexistence of staggered antiferromagnetic and orbital order can realize robust altermagnetism. We quantify the spin-splitter conductivity as a key experimental observable and discuss material candidates for the interaction-induced realization of altermagnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Supercell Altermagnets

Altermagnets are compensated magnets with unconventional $d$, $g$, and $i$-wave spin order in reciprocal space. So far the search for new altermagnetic candidates has been focused on materials in which the magnetic unit cell is identical to the non-magnetic one, i.e. magnetic structures with zero propagation vector. Here, we substantially broaden the family of altermagnetic candidates by predicting supercell altermagnets. Their magnetic unit cell is constructed by enlarging the nonmagnetic primitive unit cell, resulting in a non-zero propagation vector for the magnetic structure. This connection of the magnetic configuration to the ordering of sublattices gives an extra degree of freedom to supercell altermagnets, which can allow for the control over the order parameter spatial orientation. We identify realistic candidates MnSe$_2$ with a $d$-wave order, and RbCoBr$_3$, CsCoCr$_3$, and BaMnO$_3$ with $g$-wave order. We demonstrate the reorientation of the order parameter in MnSe$_2$, which has two different magnetic configurations, whose energy difference is only 5 meV, opening the possibility of controlling the orientation of the altermagnetic order parameter by external perturbations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Induced Monolayer Altermagnetism in MnP(S,Se)$_3$ and FeSe

Altermagnets (AM) are a recently discovered third class of collinear magnets, distinctly different from conventional ferromagnets (FM) and antiferromagnets (AF). AM have been actively researched in the last few years, but two aspects so far remain unaddressed: (1) Are there realistic 2D single-layer altermagnets? And (2) is it possible to functionalize a conventional AF into AM by external stimuli? In this paper we address both issues by demonstrating how a well-known 2D AF, MnP(S,Se)$_3$ can be functionalized into strong AM by applying out-of-plane electric field. Of particular interest is that the induced altermagnetism is of a higher even-parity wave symmetry than expected in 3D AM with similar crystal symmetries. We confirm our finding by first-principles calculations of the electronic structure and magnetooptical response. We also propose that recent observations of the time-reversal symmetry breaking in the famous Fe-based superconducting chalchogenides, either in monolayer form or in the surface layer, may be related not to an FM, as previously assumed, but to the induced 2D AM order. Finally, we show that monolayer FeSe can simultaneously exhibit unconventional altermagnetic time-reversal symmetry breaking and quantized spin Hall conductivity indicating possibility to research an intriquing interplay of 2D altermagnetism with topological and superconducting states within a common crystal-potential environment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Broken Kramers' degeneracy in altermagnetic MnTe

Altermagnetism is a newly identified fundamental class of magnetism with vanishing net magnetization and time-reversal symmetry broken electronic structure. Probing the unusual electronic structure with nonrelativistic spin splitting would be a direct experimental verification of altermagnetic phase. By combining high-quality film growth and $in~situ$ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we report the electronic structure of an altermagnetic candidate, $α$-MnTe. Temperature dependent study reveals the lifting of Kramers{\textquoteright} degeneracy accompanied by a magnetic phase transition at $T_N=267\text{ K}$ with spin splitting of up to $370\text{ meV}$, providing direct spectroscopic evidence for altermagnetism in MnTe.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Observation of the anomalous Hall effect in a layered polar semiconductor

Progress in magnetoelectric materials is hindered by apparently contradictory requirements for time-reversal symmetry broken and polar ferroelectric electronic structure in common ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Alternative routes could be provided by recent discoveries of a time-reversal symmetry breaking anomalous Hall effect in noncollinear magnets and altermagnets, but hitherto reported bulk materials are not polar. Here, we report the observation of a spontaneous anomalous Hall effect in doped AgCrSe$_2$, a layered polar semiconductor with an antiferromagnetic coupling between Cr spins in adjacent layers. The anomalous Hall resistivity 3 $μΩ$ cm is comparable to the largest observed in compensated magnetic systems to date, and is rapidly switched off when the angle of an applied magnetic field is rotated to $\sim 80^{\circ}$ from the crystalline $c$-axis. Our ionic gating experiments show that the anomalous Hall conductivity magnitude can be enhanced by modulating the $p$-type carrier density. We also present theoretical results that suggest the anomalous Hall effect is driven by Berry curvature due to noncollinear antiferromagnetic correlations among Cr spins, which are consistent with the previously suggested magnetic ordering in AgCrSe$_2$. Our results open the possibility to study the interplay of magnetic and ferroelectric-like responses in this fascinating class of materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Phase transitions associated with magnetic-field induced topological orbital momenta in a non-collinear antiferromagnet

Resistivity measurements are widely exploited to uncover electronic excitations and phase transitions in metallic solids. While single crystals are preferably studied to explore crystalline anisotropies, these usually cancel out in polycrystalline materials. Here we show that in polycrystalline Mn3Zn0.5Ge0.5N with non-collinear antiferromagnetic order, changes in the diagonal and, rather unexpected, off-diagonal components of the resistivity tensor occur at low temperatures indicating subtle transitions between magnetic phases of different symmetry. This is supported by neutron scattering and explained within a phenomenological model which suggests that the phase transitions in magnetic field are associated with field induced topological orbital momenta. The fact that we observe transitions between spin phases in a polycrystal, where effects of crystalline anisotropy are cancelled suggests that they are only controlled by exchange interactions. The observation of an off-diagonal resistivity extends the possibilities for realising antiferromagnetic spintronics with polycrystalline materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Chiral magnons in altermagnetic RuO2

Magnons in ferromagnets have one chirality, and typically are in the GHz range and have a quadratic dispersion near the zero wavevector. In contrast, magnons in antiferromagnets are commonly considered to have bands with both chiralities that are degenerate across the entire Brillouin zone, and to be in the THz range and to have a linear dispersion near the center of the Brillouin zone. Here we theoretically demonstrate a new class of magnons on a prototypical $d$-wave altermagnet RuO$_2$ with the compensated antiparallel magnetic order in the ground state. Based on density-functional-theory calculations we observe that the THz-range magnon bands in RuO$_2$ have an alternating chirality splitting, similar to the alternating spin splitting of the electronic bands, and a linear magnon dispersion near the zero wavevector. We also show that, overall, the Landau damping of this metallic altermagnet is suppressed due to the spin-split electronic structure, as compared to an artificial antiferromagnetic phase of the same RuO$_2$ crystal with spin-degenerate electronic bands and chirality-degenerate magnon bands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Experimental electronic structure of the electrically switchable antiferromagnet CuMnAs

Tetragonal CuMnAs is a room temperature antiferromagnet with an electrically reorientable Néel vector and a Dirac semimetal candidate. Direct measurements of the electronic structure of single-crystalline thin films of tetragonal CuMnAs using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) are reported, including Fermi surfaces (FS) and energy-wavevector dispersions. After correcting for a chemical potential shift of $\approx-390$ meV (hole doping), there is excellent agreement of FS, orbital character of bands, and Fermi velocities between the experiment and density functional theory calculations. Additionally, 2x1 surface reconstructions are found in the low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and ARPES. This work underscores the need to control the chemical potential in tetragonal CuMnAs to enable the exploration and exploitation of the Dirac fermions with tunable masses, which are predicted to be above the chemical potential in the present samples.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Emerging research landscape of altermagnetism

Magnetism is one of the largest, most fundamental, and technologically most relevant fields of condensed-matter physics. Traditionally, two basic magnetic phases have been considered -- ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. The breaking of the time-reversal symmetry and spin splitting of the electronic states by the magnetization in ferromagnets underpins a range of macroscopic responses in this extensively explored and exploited type of magnets. By comparison, antiferromagnets have vanishing net magnetization. This Perspective reflects on recent observations of materials hosting an intriguing ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic dichotomy, in which spin-split spectra and macroscopic observables, akin to ferromagnets, are accompanied by antiparallel magnetic order with vanishing magnetization, typical of antiferromagnets. An unconventional non-relativistic symmetry-group formalism offers a resolution of this apparent contradiction by delimiting a third basic magnetic phase, dubbed altermagnetism. Our Perspective starts with an overview of the still emerging unique phenomenology of the phase, and of the wide array of altermagnetic material candidates. In the main part of the article, we illustrate how altermagnetism can enrich our understanding of overarching condensed-matter physics concepts, and have impact on prominent condensed-matter research areas.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Altermagnetism: spin-momentum locked phase protected by non-relativistic symmetries

The search for novel magnetic quantum phases, phenomena and functional materials has been guided by relativistic magnetic-symmetry groups in coupled spin and real space from the dawn of the field in 1950s to the modern era of topological matter. However, the magnetic groups cannot disentangle non-relativistic phases and effects, such as the recently reported unconventional spin physics in collinear antiferromagnets from the typically weak relativistic spin-orbit coupling phenomena. Here we discover that more general spin symmetries in decoupled spin and crystal space categorize non-relativistic collinear magnetism in three phases: conventional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, and a third distinct phase combining zero net magnetization with an alternating spin-momentum locking in energy bands, which we dub "altermagnetic". For this third basic magnetic phase, which is omitted by the relativistic magnetic groups, we develop a spin-group theory describing six characteristic types of the altermagnetic spin-momentum locking. We demonstrate an extraordinary spin-splitting mechanism in altermagnetic bands originating from a local electric crystal field, which contrasts with the conventional magnetic or relativistic splitting by global magnetization or inversion asymmetry. Based on first-principles calculations, we identify altermagnetic candidates ranging from insulators and metals to a parent crystal of cuprate superconductor. Our results underpin emerging research of quantum phases and spintronics in high-temperature magnets with light elements, vanishing net magnetization, and strong spin-coherence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Axion Quasiparticles for Axion Dark Matter Detection

It has been suggested that certain antiferromagnetic topological insulators contain axion quasiparticles (AQs), and that such materials could be used to detect axion dark matter (DM). The AQ is a longitudinal antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation coupled to the electromagnetic Chern-Simons term, which, in the presence of an applied magnetic field, leads to mass mixing between the AQ and the electric field. The electromagnetic boundary conditions and transmission and reflection coefficients are computed. A model for including losses into this system is presented, and the resulting linewidth is computed. It is shown how transmission spectroscopy can be used to measure the resonant frequencies and damping coefficients of the material, and demonstrate conclusively the existence of the AQ. The dispersion relation and boundary conditions permit resonant conversion of axion DM into THz photons in a material volume that is independent of the resonant frequency, which is tuneable via an applied magnetic field. A parameter study for axion DM detection is performed, computing boost amplitudes and bandwidths using realistic material properties including loss. The proposal could allow for detection of axion DM in the mass range between 1 and 10 meV using current and near future technology.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Prediction of unconventional magnetism in doped FeSb2

It is commonly believed that in typical collinear antiferromagnets, with no net magnetization, the energy bands are spin-(Kramers-degenerate. The opposite case is usually associated with a global time-reversal symmetry breaking (e.g., via ferro(i)magnetism), or with the spin-orbit interaction is combined with the broken spatial inversion symmetry. Recently, another type of spin splitting was demonstrated to emerge in some fully compensated by symmetry, nonrelativistic, collinear magnets, and not even necessarily non-centrosymmetric. These materials feature non-zero spin density staggered not only in real, but also in momentum space. This duality results in a combination of characteristics typical of ferro- and antiferromagnets. Here we discuss this novel concept in application to a well-known semiconductor, FeSb2, and predict that upon certain alloying it becomes magnetic, and features such magnetic duality. The calculated energy bands split antisymmetrically with respect to spin degenerate nodal surfaces (and not nodal points, as in the case of spin-orbit splitting. This combination of a large (0.2 eV) spin splitting, compensated net magnetization and metallic ground-state, and a particular magnetic easy axis generate a large anomalous Hall conductivity (~150 S/cm) and a sizable magneto-optical Kerr effect, all deemed to be hallmarks of nonzero net magnetization. We identify a large contribution to the anomalous response originating from the spin-orbit interaction gapped anti-Kramers nodal surfaces, a mechanism distinct from the nodal lines and Weyl {\it points} in ferromagnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗