Spin splittting effects in Altermagnetic CoTeMoO₆ and MnTeMoO₆ materials.

Altermagnetism is a magnetic phase that combines features of both ferromagnetism (FM) and antiferromagnetism (AFM). Although altermagnetic materials exhibit zero net magnetization, as in AFM, they display spin splitting in their band structures, similar to FM. This coexistence of properties makes them promising candidates for spintronic applications, especially considering that the phenomenon has a non-relativistic origin. [1,2]

In this first-principles study, we modeled the bulk phases of two isostructural materials—CoTeMoO₆ (CTMO) and MnTeMoO₆ (MTMO)—composed of layers bound by van der Waals forces, in order to investigate their altermagnetic behavior. The magnetic and electronic structures were analyzed for two different magnetic configurations, without including spin–orbit coupling.

Based on these results, we further modeled 2D phases of the materials with one, two, and three layers, manipulating symmetry through the number of layers. We found that altermagnetism emerges for an odd number of layers, whereas it disappears for an even number.

[1] L. Šmejkal, J. Sinova, and T. Jungwirth, “Emerging Research Landscape of Altermagnetism,” Phys Rev X, vol. 12, no. 4, p. 040501, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevX.12.040501.

[2] L. Šmejkal, J. Sinova, and T. Jungwirth, “Beyond Conventional Ferromagnetism and Antiferromagnetism: A Phase with Nonrelativistic Spin and Crystal Rotation Symmetry,” Phys Rev X, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 031042, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevX.12.031042.



We thank DGAPA-UNAM projects IG101124, IA100226 and IN105026 for partial financial support. Calculations were performed in the DGTIC-UNAM Supercomputing Center projects LANCAD-UNAM-DGTIC-150, LANCAD-UNAM-DGTIC-368, and LANCAD-UNAM-DGTIC-422.