![\"Nanoscale](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nanoscale-x-ray-imagin.jpg\" "\\"Schematic")
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Schematic of X-ray magnetic circular dichroic scanning transmission X-ray microscopy, with the experimental observation of altermagnetic domains and topological nanotextures in MnTe. Credit: CPfS MPG \/ C. Donnelly<\/p>\n
Magnetic materials have been known since ancient times and play an important role in modern society, where the net magnetic order offers routes to energy harvesting and data processing. It is the net magnetic moment of ferromagnets that has so far been key to their applications, with an alternative type of magnetic material, the antiferromagnet, deemed “useless” by their discoverer Louis N\u00e9el in his Nobel Prize lecture.<\/p>\n
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in antiferromagnets, which offer a number of exciting advantages for technologies including robust order and ultrafast dynamics\u2014however with the challenge that they are hard to detect and manipulate electrically.<\/p>\n
The recent discovery of a new type of magnetic order\u2014the altermagnet\u2014has overturned this view: by combining antiferromagnetic ordering with ferromagnet-like properties such as spintronic effects, they promise a multitude of advantages for future applications.<\/p>\n
Since the first theoretical works predicting altermagnetism, the field has grown rapidly, with both theoretical and experimental works leading to advances in our understanding.<\/p>\n
One of the questions that remained, however, was the bulk nature of the order, and whether this could be measured experimentally. With most previous experimental studies making use of thin films, or techniques that are intrinsically surface-sensitive, the question remained as to how the altermagnetic properties manifest through the bulk of a material.<\/p>\n
To address this challenge, an international research team led by Claire Donnelly at the Max Planck Institute performed scanning transmission X\u2011ray microscopy (STXM) measurements with nanoscale spatial resolution on lamellae extracted from a single crystal.<\/p>\n
In this way, they were able to successfully observe altermagnetic domains in bulk samples of MnTe\u2014a candidate altermagnet\u2014that up until now had only been seen in thin film systems. The work is published<\/a> in the journal Physical Review Applied.<\/p>\n These X\u2011ray measurements not only allowed the team to observe the magnetic configuration\u2014but by performing them as a function of X\u2011ray energy, they were able to address outstanding questions about the altermagnetic nature of the material.<\/p>\n “In previous measurements published by our colleagues, the measured X\u2011ray dichroism was significantly weaker than had been predicted by theory,” says Rikako Yamamoto, postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, and first author of the study.<\/p>\n “But when we compared our results, we saw that the signal strengths matched the theory almost perfectly\u2014allowing us to confirm that the bulk of our sample is altermagnetic.”<\/p>\n The experiments were conducted at the MAXYMUS beamline of the BESSY\u2011II synchrotron in Berlin.<\/p>\n In the experiment, circularly polarized X\u2011rays were focused down to a nanoscale spot size, and scanned across the sample, with the transmitted signal measured for different polarizations. This so\u2011called “X\u2011ray magnetic circular dichroism” is most commonly associated with ferromagnets, where the signal corresponds to a net magnetic moment, but is typically zero in antiferromagnets, where the net magnetization vanishes.<\/p>\n Altermagnets, on the other hand, do exhibit this X\u2011ray dichroism, despite their antiferromagnetic order, which offers a route to mapping their properties on the nanoscale.<\/p>\n “What was particularly interesting was the variety of features we observed in the X\u2011ray dichroic images,” says Donnelly. “As well as observing bright and dark regions which correspond to regions of different orientations of the altermagnetic order, we also saw a number of nanoscale features with more complex patterns.”<\/p>\n \n Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Dichroic signals suggestive of topological structures were observed, including both domain walls and winding, vortex\u2011like textures. “The fact that such structures could be seen in naturally grown single crystals was surprising,” continued Yamamoto.<\/p>\n “This hopefully means that this approach can also offer a platform for exploring topological magnetic textures\u2014and how they behave.”<\/p>\n This study not only provides experimental evidence for the bulk nature of altermagnetism in MnTe, but also establishes transmission X\u2011ray nanoimaging as a powerful method for identifying altermagnetic order.<\/p>\n Going forward, the approach can be readily applied to many other candidate altermagnets, which are being predicted by theorists. Marcus Schmidt, scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, who grew the single crystal<\/a> MnTe, explained, “The fact that we can now grow these materials, and directly probe their altermagnetic order on the nanoscale with X\u2011rays is very exciting\u2014who knows what we will find.”<\/p>\n More information: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRikako Yamamoto et al, Altermagnetic nanotextures revealed in bulk MnTe, Physical Review Applied (2025). DOI: 10.1103\/dp7v-qszq<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMax Planck Society<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNanoscale X-ray imaging reveals bulk altermagnetism in MnTe (2025, October 9)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 10 October 2025
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