Electrical switching and detection of unconventional antiferromagnetism

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

Electric control and detection of magnetic order is a key goal in magnetism research, yet remains elusive for antiferromagnets. We present theoretical schemes for purely electric switching and detection of unconventional antiferromagnetism—specifically altermagnetism and noncollinear antiferromagnetism—that combine the merits of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. We show how electric fields can switch magnetic order in these systems and how altermagnets can be electrically detected via Coulomb drag and nonlinear Hall effects. These results open practical pathways for antiferromagnetic spintronics without magnetic fields or contacts.

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Publication: [1] Yiyuan Chen, Xiaoxiong Liu, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie, "Electrical switching of altermagnetism", Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 016701 (2025).
[2] Haojie Lin, Songbo Zhang, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie, "Coulomb drag in altermagnets", Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 136301 (2025).
[3] R. Y. Chu, L. Han, Z. H. Gong, X. Z. Fu, H. Bai, S. X. Liang, C. Chen, S-W. Cheong, Y. Y. Zhang, J. W. Liu, Y. Y. Wang, F. Pan, H. Z. Lu, and C. Song, "Third-order nonlinear Hall effect in altermagnet RuO2", Phys. Rev. Lett. (2025) https://doi.org/10.1103/rv1n-vr4p.
[4] Zhen-Hao Gong, Zhi-Hao Wei, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie, "Identifying geometric third-order nonlinear transport in disordered materials", arXiv:2510.24239.
[5] Yiyuan Chen, Z. Z. Du, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie, "Intrinsic spin-orbit torque mechanism for deterministic all-electric switching of noncollinear antiferromagnets", Phys. Rev. B 109, L121115 (2024).
[6] Xiaobin Qiang, Z. Z. Du, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie, "Topological and disorder corrections to the transverse Wiedemann-Franz law and Mott relation in kagome magnets and Dirac materials", Phys. Rev. B 107, L161302 (2023).
[7] Yongcheng Deng, Xionghua Liu, Yiyuan Chen, Zongzheng Du, Nai Jiang, Chao Shen, Enze Zhang, Houzhi Zheng, Hai-Zhou Lu, Kaiyou Wang, "All-electrical switching of a topological non-collinear antiferromagnet at room temperature", National Science Review 10, nwac154 (2023).

Presenters

  • Hai-Zhou Lu

    • Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China

Authors

  • Hai-Zhou Lu

    • Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China