1 research outputs found
Wurtzite vs rock-salt MnSe epitaxy: electronic and altermagnetic properties
Newly discovered altermagnets are magnetic materials exhibiting both
compensated magnetic order, similar to antiferromagnets, and simultaneous
non-relativistic spin-splitting of the bands, akin to ferromagnets. This
characteristic arises from the specific symmetry operations that connect the
spin sublattices. In this report, we show with ab initio calculations that the
semiconductive MnSe exhibits altermagnetic spin-splitting in the wurtzite phase
as well as a critical temperature well above room temperature. It is the first
material from such space group identified to possess altermagnetic properties.
Furthermore, we demonstrate experimentally through structural characterization
techniques that it is possible to obtain thin films of both the intriguing
wurtzite phase of MnSe and the more common rock-salt MnSe using molecular beam
epitaxy on GaAs substrates. The choice of buffer layers plays a crucial role in
determining the resulting phase and consequently extends the array of materials
available for the physics of altermagnetism