Altermagnets Enable Gate-Switchable Helical and Chiral Topological Transport with Spin-Valley-Momentum-Locked Dual Protection

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Hauptverfasser: Chen, Xianzhang, Zhang, Jiayong, Hao, Bowen, Qian, Jiahui, Zhu, Ziye, Zutic, Igor, Zhang, Zhenyu, Zhou, Tong
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Chen, Xianzhang
Zhang, Jiayong
Hao, Bowen
Qian, Jiahui
Zhu, Ziye
Zutic, Igor
Zhang, Zhenyu
Zhou, Tong
author_facet Chen, Xianzhang
Zhang, Jiayong
Hao, Bowen
Qian, Jiahui
Zhu, Ziye
Zutic, Igor
Zhang, Zhenyu
Zhou, Tong
contents We establish a unified, symmetry-driven framework that combines the alternating spin splitting of altermagnets with valley topology to realize and electrically interconvert helical and chiral topological phases within a single material platform. We first demonstrate a magnetic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect in altermagnets, hosting helical spin-valley-momentum-locked (SVML) edge states characterized by a composite spin-valley Chern number Csv = 2. Large-scale quantum transport simulations show these SVML edge states exhibit fully quantized spin conductance robust against nonmagnetic and long-range magnetic disorder, reflecting their dual topological protection, while remaining vulnerable to short-range magnetic disorder. Exploiting that the counterpropagating SVML modes are linked by crystal rotation symmetry, we introduce a gate-tunable sublattice-staggered potential that selectively gaps one valley and converts the helical state into a chiral quantum anomalous Hall phase with Csv = 1, robust against all disorder types. Reversing the potential switches the transmitted spin-valley polarization. Our first-principles calculations identify monolayer V2STeO and VO families as realistic platforms supporting both helical and chiral topological phases and their electrical switching. These results establish altermagnets as electrically programmable platforms for robust topological devices across charge, spin, and valley.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_06487
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Altermagnets Enable Gate-Switchable Helical and Chiral Topological Transport with Spin-Valley-Momentum-Locked Dual Protection
Chen, Xianzhang
Zhang, Jiayong
Hao, Bowen
Qian, Jiahui
Zhu, Ziye
Zutic, Igor
Zhang, Zhenyu
Zhou, Tong
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
We establish a unified, symmetry-driven framework that combines the alternating spin splitting of altermagnets with valley topology to realize and electrically interconvert helical and chiral topological phases within a single material platform. We first demonstrate a magnetic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect in altermagnets, hosting helical spin-valley-momentum-locked (SVML) edge states characterized by a composite spin-valley Chern number Csv = 2. Large-scale quantum transport simulations show these SVML edge states exhibit fully quantized spin conductance robust against nonmagnetic and long-range magnetic disorder, reflecting their dual topological protection, while remaining vulnerable to short-range magnetic disorder. Exploiting that the counterpropagating SVML modes are linked by crystal rotation symmetry, we introduce a gate-tunable sublattice-staggered potential that selectively gaps one valley and converts the helical state into a chiral quantum anomalous Hall phase with Csv = 1, robust against all disorder types. Reversing the potential switches the transmitted spin-valley polarization. Our first-principles calculations identify monolayer V2STeO and VO families as realistic platforms supporting both helical and chiral topological phases and their electrical switching. These results establish altermagnets as electrically programmable platforms for robust topological devices across charge, spin, and valley.
title Altermagnets Enable Gate-Switchable Helical and Chiral Topological Transport with Spin-Valley-Momentum-Locked Dual Protection
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.06487