Emergent Magnetic Structures at the 2D Limit of the Altermagnet MnTe
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866915833462128640 |
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| author | Cuxart, Marc G. Robles, Roberto Cano, Beatriz Muñiz Gargiani, Pierluigi Rebanal, Clara Di Bernardo, Iolanda Amiri, Alireza Calleja, Fabián Garnica, Manuela Valbuena, Miguel A. de Parga, Amadeo L. Vázquez |
| author_facet | Cuxart, Marc G. Robles, Roberto Cano, Beatriz Muñiz Gargiani, Pierluigi Rebanal, Clara Di Bernardo, Iolanda Amiri, Alireza Calleja, Fabián Garnica, Manuela Valbuena, Miguel A. de Parga, Amadeo L. Vázquez |
| contents | MnTe has recently emerged as a canonical altermagnet, a newly identified class of magnetism characterized by compensated antiferromagnetic order coexisting with spin-split electronic bands, traditionally considered exclusive to ferromagnets. However, the extent to which altermagnetism persists as altermagnets are thinned to the two-dimensional (2D) limit remains unexplored. Here, we investigate the magnetic behaviour of 2D MnTe, specifically atomically-thin monolayers (MLs) and bilayers (BLs) grown on graphene/Ir(111) substrate, by combining experimental scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism with density functional theory calculations. We find that while ML and BL MnTe adopt atomic structures with symmetries incompatible with altermagnetism, they exhibit intriguing magnetic phases: the BL forms a highly-robust layered antiferromagnet with in-plane spin anisotropy, whereas the ML exhibits a spin-glass-like behavior below its freezing temperature, a phenomenon not previously observed in an atomically thin material. These findings highlight how reduced dimensionality can promote the emergence of unusual magnetic structures distinct from those of their three-dimensional counterparts, providing new insights into low-dimensional magnetism. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_11231 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Emergent Magnetic Structures at the 2D Limit of the Altermagnet MnTe Cuxart, Marc G. Robles, Roberto Cano, Beatriz Muñiz Gargiani, Pierluigi Rebanal, Clara Di Bernardo, Iolanda Amiri, Alireza Calleja, Fabián Garnica, Manuela Valbuena, Miguel A. de Parga, Amadeo L. Vázquez Materials Science Strongly Correlated Electrons MnTe has recently emerged as a canonical altermagnet, a newly identified class of magnetism characterized by compensated antiferromagnetic order coexisting with spin-split electronic bands, traditionally considered exclusive to ferromagnets. However, the extent to which altermagnetism persists as altermagnets are thinned to the two-dimensional (2D) limit remains unexplored. Here, we investigate the magnetic behaviour of 2D MnTe, specifically atomically-thin monolayers (MLs) and bilayers (BLs) grown on graphene/Ir(111) substrate, by combining experimental scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism with density functional theory calculations. We find that while ML and BL MnTe adopt atomic structures with symmetries incompatible with altermagnetism, they exhibit intriguing magnetic phases: the BL forms a highly-robust layered antiferromagnet with in-plane spin anisotropy, whereas the ML exhibits a spin-glass-like behavior below its freezing temperature, a phenomenon not previously observed in an atomically thin material. These findings highlight how reduced dimensionality can promote the emergence of unusual magnetic structures distinct from those of their three-dimensional counterparts, providing new insights into low-dimensional magnetism. |
| title | Emergent Magnetic Structures at the 2D Limit of the Altermagnet MnTe |
| topic | Materials Science Strongly Correlated Electrons |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.11231 |