Deterministic Switching in Altermagnets via Asymmetric Sublattice Spin Current
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866908589429358592 |
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| author | Sarkar, Sayan Das, Sunit Agarwal, Amit |
| author_facet | Sarkar, Sayan Das, Sunit Agarwal, Amit |
| contents | We demonstrate a deterministic switching mechanism in collinear altermagnets driven by asymmetric sublattice spin currents. Unlike conventional antiferromagnets, where combined parity-time-reversal symmetry enforces purely staggered sublattice spin torques, altermagnets host symmetry-protected nonrelativistic spin splitting that produces unequal torques on the two sublattices. Using doped FeSb$_2$ as a representative $d$-wave altermagnet, our Landau--Lifshitz--Gilbert simulations show that these torques enable magnetic-field-free and deterministic 180$^\circ$ Néel vector reversal over picosecond timescale. The mechanism is generic to even-parity altermagnets and remains effective even in centrosymmetric, weak spin-orbit coupled systems, where the Néel spin-orbit torque mechanism fails. Our results establish an experimentally accessible mechanism for switching of altermagnetic order, opening pathways for realizing ultrafast, low-power altermagnet spintronic devices. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_11362 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Deterministic Switching in Altermagnets via Asymmetric Sublattice Spin Current Sarkar, Sayan Das, Sunit Agarwal, Amit Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science We demonstrate a deterministic switching mechanism in collinear altermagnets driven by asymmetric sublattice spin currents. Unlike conventional antiferromagnets, where combined parity-time-reversal symmetry enforces purely staggered sublattice spin torques, altermagnets host symmetry-protected nonrelativistic spin splitting that produces unequal torques on the two sublattices. Using doped FeSb$_2$ as a representative $d$-wave altermagnet, our Landau--Lifshitz--Gilbert simulations show that these torques enable magnetic-field-free and deterministic 180$^\circ$ Néel vector reversal over picosecond timescale. The mechanism is generic to even-parity altermagnets and remains effective even in centrosymmetric, weak spin-orbit coupled systems, where the Néel spin-orbit torque mechanism fails. Our results establish an experimentally accessible mechanism for switching of altermagnetic order, opening pathways for realizing ultrafast, low-power altermagnet spintronic devices. |
| title | Deterministic Switching in Altermagnets via Asymmetric Sublattice Spin Current |
| topic | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.11362 |