Multiphysics field driven valley polarization in tetragonal altermagnets
Phys. Rev. B 112, 024408 – Published 7 July, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k4x8-84g8
Abstract
A class of magnetic materials known as altermagnets exhibits an emerging spin-valley locking and provides a platform for valleytronics. Unlike traditional valleytronic materials, the valley degeneracy in altermagnets is protected by crystal symmetries rather than time-reversal symmetry. It is found that the crystal symmetries linking two spin sublattices can be broken by an in-plane electric field or a magnetic field, resulting in the lifting of valley degeneracy. The magnitude of valley splitting strongly depends on the electric field, but weakly on the magnetic field. Furthermore, we combine the two physical fields to jointly modulate the valley of monolayer . The results demonstrate that when the direction of the applied physical field is fixed, the magnetic field has a significant effect on valley splitting in the case of a small electric field strength. However, as the electric field strength increases, this effect significantly decreases, a consequence of the fact that the valley polarization in altermagnets is caused by exchange interactions instead of spin-orbit coupling. The findings demonstrate the potential for achieving multiphysics fields controlled valley in altermagnets.