Spin-valley splitting in altermagnet/ferromagnet heterostructures
Phys. Rev. B 113, 184434 – Published 11 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/j9z1-43gc
Abstract
Altermagnets with spin-layer coupling (SLC) enable symmetry-protected spin splitting without net magnetization. In the SLC altermagnet monolayer, which exhibits distinct sublayer-dependent spin and valley characteristics, we demonstrate that breaking the sublayer-exchange symmetry S via ferromagnetic substrates induces robust, magnetization-tunable spin-valley splitting, with the magnitude mainly depending on the strength of interfacial interactions. First-principles calculations reveal that strong interfacial charge redistribution and exchange coupling generate spin-valley splitting for both the valence band maximum (VBM) and conduction band minimum (CBM) of . In , antiferromagnetic interfacial exchange produces large spin-valley splitting for CBM but only minor splitting for VBM, with −0.016 and 0.019 eV corresponding to upward and downward magnetic orientations of , respectively. In contrast, CoSe exhibits ferromagnetic interfacial exchange and pronounced interfacial charge redistribution, forming prominent Co-Se bonding and antibonding states near the Fermi level under opposite substrate magnetic orientations, resulting in larger spin-valley splitting consistent with sublayer-resolved band shifts. Device-level spin-transport simulations of the van der Waals (vdW) tunneling junctions further confirm a magnetization-controlled, spin-valley-dependent transport, with -resolved maps revealing anisotropy in transmission coefficients. These results demonstrate that vdW heterostructure engineering provides a promising route for achieving large and magnetization-tunable spin-valley splitting in spintronic and valleytronic devices based on altermagnetic materials.