The control of antiferromagnets by magnetic fields represents a fundamental challenge in condensed matter physics, owing to their fully compensated magnetic order and vanishing net magnetization. Conventional methods rely on either uncompensated moments or high-field spin-flop transitions. Here, we demonstrate low-field switching in the fully compensated antiferromagnet CeNiAsO—a material recently proposed as a candidate for $p$-wave magnetism. Using an in-plane magnetic field well below the spin-flop threshold, we selectively stabilize one of two degenerate antiferromagnetic domains with mutually orthogonal sublattice orientations. This field-induced domain selection allows reversible and nonvolatile switching of a giant in-plane resistivity anisotropy up to $\sim 35$%—a magnitude that far exceeds conventional anisotropy signals driven by spin-orbit coupling. The switching behavior persists across both the low-temperature noncollinear Néel phase and the higher-temperature collinear spin-density-wave phase, highlighting the universality of the domain-selection mechanism. Our work establishes an approach for manipulating compensated antiferromagnets with modest magnetic fields and underscores their potential for high-performance spintronic devices based on giant and switchable resistivity anisotropy.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Altermagnetism
• Altermagnets
• Resistivity measurements