Observation of plaid-like spin splitting in a noncoplanar antiferromagnet

Yu-Peng Zhu, Xiaobing Chen, Xiang-Rui Liu, Yuntian Liu, Pengfei Liu, Heming Zha, Gexing Qu, Caiyun Hong, Jiayu Li, Zhicheng Jiang, Xiao-Ming Ma, Yu-Jie Hao, Ming-Yuan Zhu, Wenjing Liu, Meng Zeng, Sreehari Jayaram, Malik Lenger, Jianyang Ding, Shu Mo, Kiyohisa Tanaka, Masashi Arita, Zhengtai Liu, Mao Ye, Dawei Shen, Jörg Wrachtrup, Yaobo Huang, Rui-Hua He, Shan Qiao (), Qihang Liu () and Chang Liu ()
Additional contact information
Yu-Peng Zhu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Xiaobing Chen: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Xiang-Rui Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Yuntian Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Pengfei Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Heming Zha: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gexing Qu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Caiyun Hong: Westlake University
Jiayu Li: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Zhicheng Jiang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiao-Ming Ma: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Yu-Jie Hao: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Ming-Yuan Zhu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Wenjing Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Meng Zeng: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Sreehari Jayaram: University of Stuttgart
Malik Lenger: University of Stuttgart
Jianyang Ding: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shu Mo: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Kiyohisa Tanaka: National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Masashi Arita: Hiroshima University
Zhengtai Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mao Ye: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dawei Shen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jörg Wrachtrup: University of Stuttgart
Yaobo Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Rui-Hua He: Westlake University
Shan Qiao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qihang Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
Chang Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)

Nature, 2024, vol. 626, issue 7999, 523-528

Abstract: Abstract Spatial, momentum and energy separation of electronic spins in condensed-matter systems guides the development of new devices in which spin-polarized current is generated and manipulated1–3. Recent attention on a set of previously overlooked symmetry operations in magnetic materials4 leads to the emergence of a new type of spin splitting, enabling giant and momentum-dependent spin polarization of energy bands on selected antiferromagnets5–10. Despite the ever-growing theoretical predictions, the direct spectroscopic proof of such spin splitting is still lacking. Here we provide solid spectroscopic and computational evidence for the existence of such materials. In the noncoplanar antiferromagnet manganese ditelluride (MnTe2), the in-plane components of spin are found to be antisymmetric about the high-symmetry planes of the Brillouin zone, comprising a plaid-like spin texture in the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state. Such an unconventional spin pattern, further found to diminish at the high-temperature paramagnetic state, originates from the intrinsic AFM order instead of spin–orbit coupling (SOC). Our finding demonstrates a new type of quadratic spin texture induced by time-reversal breaking, placing AFM spintronics on a firm basis and paving the way for studying exotic quantum phenomena in related materials.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07023-w

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