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Krempaský J, Šmejkal L, D'Souza SW, Hajlaoui M, Springholz G, Uhlířová K, Alarab F, Constantinou PC, Strocov V, Usanov D, Pudelko WR, González-Hernández R, Birk Hellenes A, Jansa Z, Reichlová H, Šobáň Z, Gonzalez Betancourt RD, Wadley P, Sinova J, Kriegner D, Minár J, Dil JH, Jungwirth T. Altermagnetic lifting of Kramers spin degeneracy. Nature 2024; 626:517-522. [PMID: 38356066 PMCID: PMC10866710 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06907-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Lifted Kramers spin degeneracy (LKSD) has been among the central topics of condensed-matter physics since the dawn of the band theory of solids1,2. It underpins established practical applications as well as current frontier research, ranging from magnetic-memory technology3-7 to topological quantum matter8-14. Traditionally, LKSD has been considered to originate from two possible internal symmetry-breaking mechanisms. The first refers to time-reversal symmetry breaking by magnetization of ferromagnets and tends to be strong because of the non-relativistic exchange origin15. The second applies to crystals with broken inversion symmetry and tends to be comparatively weaker, as it originates from the relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC)16-19. A recent theory work based on spin-symmetry classification has identified an unconventional magnetic phase, dubbed altermagnetic20,21, that allows for LKSD without net magnetization and inversion-symmetry breaking. Here we provide the confirmation using photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. We identify two distinct unconventional mechanisms of LKSD generated by the altermagnetic phase of centrosymmetric MnTe with vanishing net magnetization20-23. Our observation of the altermagnetic LKSD can have broad consequences in magnetism. It motivates exploration and exploitation of the unconventional nature of this magnetic phase in an extended family of materials, ranging from insulators and semiconductors to metals and superconductors20,21, that have been either identified recently or perceived for many decades as conventional antiferromagnets21,24,25.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Krempaský
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.
| | - L Šmejkal
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - S W D'Souza
- New Technologies Research Center, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech Republic
| | - M Hajlaoui
- Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - G Springholz
- Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - K Uhlířová
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - F Alarab
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - P C Constantinou
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - V Strocov
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - D Usanov
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - W R Pudelko
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
- Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - R González-Hernández
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - A Birk Hellenes
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Z Jansa
- New Technologies Research Center, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech Republic
| | - H Reichlová
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Z Šobáň
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - P Wadley
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - J Sinova
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - D Kriegner
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - J Minár
- New Technologies Research Center, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech Republic.
| | - J H Dil
- Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
- Institut de Physique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - T Jungwirth
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
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González-García A, López-Pérez W, González-Hernández R, Bacaksiz C, Šabani D, Milošević MV, Peeters FM. Transition-metal adatoms on 2D-GaAs: a route to chiral magnetic 2D materials by design. J Phys Condens Matter 2021; 33:145803. [PMID: 33503605 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/abe077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Using relativistic density-functional calculations, we examine the magneto-crystalline anisotropy and exchange properties of transition-metal atoms adsorbed on 2D-GaAs. We show that single Mn and Mo atom (Co and Os) strongly bind on 2D-GaAs, and induce local out-of-plane (in-plane) magnetic anisotropy. When a pair of TM atoms is adsorbed on 2D-GaAs in a close range from each other, magnetisation properties change (become tunable) with respect to concentrations and ordering of the adatoms. In all cases, we reveal presence of strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. These results indicate novel pathways towards two-dimensional chiral magnetic materials by design, tailored for desired applications in magneto-electronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- A González-García
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
- Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - W López-Pérez
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - R González-Hernández
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - C Bacaksiz
- Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Belgium
- Bremen Center for Computational Material Science (BCCMS), Bremen D-28359, Germany
- Computational Science Research Center, Beijing and Computational Science and Applied Research Institute Shenzhen, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
| | - D Šabani
- Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Belgium
| | - M V Milošević
- Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Belgium
| | - F M Peeters
- Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Belgium
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González-García A, López-Pérez W, González-Hernández R, Rivera-Julio J, Espejo C, Milośević MV, Peeters FM. Two-dimensional hydrogenated buckled gallium arsenide: an ab initio study. J Phys Condens Matter 2020; 32:145502. [PMID: 31822645 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab6043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
First-principles calculations have been carried out to investigate the stability, structural and electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) hydrogenated GaAs with three possible geometries: chair, zigzag-line and boat configurations. The effect of van der Waals interactions on 2D H-GaAs systems has also been studied. These configurations were found to be energetic and dynamic stable, as well as having a semiconducting character. Although 2D GaAs adsorbed with H tends to form a zigzag-line configuration, the energy differences between chair, zigzag-line and boat are very small which implies the metastability of the system. Chair and boat configurations display a [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] direct bandgap nature, while pristine 2D-GaAs and zigzag-line are indirect semiconductors. The bandgap sizes of all configurations are also hydrogen dependent, and wider than that of pristine 2D-GaAs with both PBE and HSE functionals. Even though DFT-vdW interactions increase the adsorption energies and reduce the equilibrium distances of H-GaAs systems, it presents, qualitatively, the same physical results on the stability and electronic properties of our studied systems with PBE functional. According to our results, 2D buckled gallium arsenide is a good candidate to be synthesized by hydrogen surface passivation as its group III-V partners 2D buckled gallium nitride and boron nitride. The hydrogenation of 2D-GaAs tunes the bandgap of pristine 2D-GaAs, which makes it a potential candidate for optoelectronic applications in the blue and violet ranges of the visible electromagnetic spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- A González-García
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia. Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
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González-García A, López-Pérez W, González-Hernández R, Rodríguez JA, Milośević MV, Peeters FM. Tunable 2D-gallium arsenide and graphene bandgaps in a graphene/GaAs heterostructure: an ab initio study. J Phys Condens Matter 2019; 31:265502. [PMID: 30840939 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab0d70] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The bandgap behavior of 2D-GaAs and graphene have been investigated with van der Waals heterostructured into a yet unexplored graphene/GaAs bilayer, under both uniaxial stress along c axis and different planar strain distributions. The 2D-GaAs bandgap nature changes from [Formula: see text]-K indirect in isolated monolayer to [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] direct in graphene/GaAs bilayer. In the latter, graphene exhibits a bandgap of 5 meV. The uniaxial stress strongly affects the graphene electronic bandgap, while symmetric in-plane strain does not open the bandgap in graphene. Nevertheless, it induces remarkable changes on the GaAs bandgap-width around the Fermi level. However, when applying asymmetric in-plane strain to graphene/GaAs, the graphene sublattice symmetry is broken, and the graphene bandgap is open at the Fermi level to a maximum width of 814 meV. This value is much higher than that reported for just graphene under asymmetric strain. The [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] direct bandgap of GaAs remains unchanged in graphene/GaAs under different types of applied strain. The analyses of phonon dispersion and the elastic constants yield the dynamical and mechanical stability of the graphene/GaAs system, respectively. The calculated mechanical properties for bilayer heterostructure are better than those of their constituent monolayers. This finding, together with the tunable graphene bandgap not only by the strength but also by the direction of the strain, enhance the potential for strain engineering of ultrathin group-III-V electronic devices hybridized by graphene.
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Affiliation(s)
- A González-García
- Grupo de Investigación en Física Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia. Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
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Rivera-Julio J, González-García A, González-Hernández R, López-Pérez W, Peeters FM, Hernández-Nieves AD. Vibrational properties of germanane and fluorinated germanene in the chair, boat, and zigzag-line configurations. J Phys Condens Matter 2019; 31:075301. [PMID: 30523897 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/aaf45f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The electronic and vibrational properties of germanane and fluorinated germanene are studied within density functional theory (DFT) and density functional perturbation theory frameworks. Different structural configurations of germanane and fluorinated germanene are investigated. The energy difference between the different configurations are consistently smaller than the energy of thermal fluctuations for all the analyzed DFT functionals LDA, GGA, and hybrid functionals, which implies that, in principle, it is possible to find these different configurations in different regions of the sample as minority phases or local defects. We calculate the Raman and infrared spectra for these configurations by using ab initio calculations and compare it with available experimental spectra for germanane. Our results show the presence of minority phases compatible with the configurations analyzed in this work. As these low energy configurations are metastable the present work shows that the synthesis of these energy competing phases is feasible by selectively changing the synthesis conditions, which is an opportunity to expand in this way the availability of new two-dimensional compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Rivera-Julio
- Condensed matter theory group, Centro Atomico Bariloche and CONICET, S. C. de Bariloche, 8400 S. C. de Bariloche, Argentina. Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
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Abstract
The development and validation of an analytical method for the determination of spiramycin I in the presence of its related substances by capillary electrophoresis is shown. The separation, performed in a phosphate buffer (80 mM, pH 7.5) containing 12 mM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and 20 mM sodium cholate, with a 50 microm ID and 44 cm long fused-silica capillary (36 cm effective length), applying a voltage of 12 kV (l approximately 80 microA), at 25 degrees C, is achieved in 15 min. Good selectivity among spiramycin I and its related substances was obtained. The influence of the buffer pH, and of the CTAB and sodium cholate concentrations was investigated. The method robustness, examined by means of a full-fraction factorial design, shows that it can be used within the limits set for the three parameters that were investigated. The method is linear (r = 0.9992) and precise (day-to-day corrected peak area repeatability, n = 18, relative standard deviation = 1.3%). The limits of detection and quantitation are 7 pg (0.025%) and 22 pg (0.08%), respectively, relative to a 2 mg/mL solution.
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