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    Ferroelectric antiferromagnetic lifting of spin-valley degeneracy

    Jiaqi Feng1, Xiaodong Zhou2,1,*, Jingyan Chen1, Meiling Xu1, Xiuxian Yang1, and Yinwei Li1,†

    • 1Laboratory of Quantum Functional Materials Design and Application, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
    • 2School of Physical Science and Technology, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China

    • *Contact author: zhouxiaodong@tiangong.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: yinwei_li@jsnu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 111, 214446 – Published 30 June, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jyq4-d4gs

    Abstract

    The generation and control of spin polarization and valley polarization in antiferromagnets (AFMs) have garnered increasing attention due to their potential for enabling faster and more stable multifunctional spintronic and valleytronic memory and logic devices. However, the two primary categories of AFMs—altermagnets and TP-symmetric AFMs (T is time reversal; P is spatial inversion)—either lack intrinsic valley polarization or net spin polarization. Here, we propose an effective approach for achieving spontaneous spin-valley polarization in TP-broken layered ferroelectric antiferromagnets (FE-AFMs). The FE-AFMs exhibit lifted spin degeneracy across the entire Brillouin zone, along with uncompensated spin density of states. They combine the benefits of spin polarization in altermagnets with valley polarization in TP-symmetric AFMs. Furthermore, the FE-AFMs feature layer-dependent spin polarization, rooted in their intrinsic ferroelectric property, allowing for the flexible control over spin-valley polarization by interlayer sliding. This tunability facilitates sign-reversible and size-tunable valley Hall and Nernst effects, along with other spin- and valley-dependent transport properties. Our findings are demonstrated in a broad class of TP-broken bilayer antiferromagnets such as Nb3X8 (X=Cl, Br, I), VX2 (X=S, Se), and VSi2X4 (X=N, P), underscoring the potential of FE-AFMs for advancing next-generation spin- and valley-based information technologies.

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