Altermagnetism could unlock new materials for quantum technologies

A team led by the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has experimentally confirmed altermagnetism, establishing a third distinct magnetic phase beyond the long-recognized ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. The research, published in Science, centers on manganese telluride (MnTe) and reveals a unique asymmetric magnetic structure, chirality, within its spins. In the past few years, scientists have observed phenomena that don’t fit neatly into the ferromagnetism-antiferromagnetism dichotomy,” explains lead author Daniel Jost, associate scientist at SLAC. Identifying altermagnetic materials like MnTe could advance technologies including quantum computing and memory devices. The presence of chirality within manganese telluride (MnTe) provided the conclusive evidence needed…