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DOE OSTI · 2964046

Electrical switching of a p-wave magnet

Abstract

Magnetic states with zero magnetization but non-relativistic spin splitting are outstanding candidates for the next generation of spintronic devices. Their electronvolt (eV)-scale spin splitting, ultrafast spin dynamics and nearly vanishing stray fields make them particularly promising for several applications. A variety of such magnetic states with non-trivial spin textures have been identified recently, including even-parity d-wave, g-wave or i-wave altermagnets and odd-parity p-wave magnets. Achieving voltage-based control of the non-uniform spin polarization of these magnetic states is of great interest for realizing energy-efficient and compact devices for information storage and processing. Spin-spiral type II multiferroics are optimal candidates for such voltage-based control, as they exhibit an inversion-symmetry-breaking magnetic order that directly induces ferroelectric polarization, allowing for symmetry-protected cross-control between spin chirality and polar order. Here we combine photocurrent measurements, first-principles calculations and group-theory analysis to provide direct evidence that the spin polarization of the spin-spiral type II multiferroic NiI 2 exhibits odd-parity character connected to the spiral chirality. The symmetry-protected coupling between chirality and polar order enables electrical control of a primarily non-relativistic spin polarization. Our findings represent an observation of p-wave magnetism in a spin-spiral type II multiferroic, which may lead to the development of voltage-based switching of non-relativistic spin polarization in compensated magnets.

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Song, Qian [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000172608558), Stavrić, Srdjan [Univ. degli Studi di Chieti (Italy); Univ. of Belgrade (Serbia)] (ORCID:0000000320970955), Barone, Paolo [National Research Council (CNR), Rome (Italy). Inst. for Superconductors, Innovative Materials and Devices (CNR-SPIN)] (ORCID:0000000172228627), Droghetti, Andrea [Univ. degli Studi di Chieti (Italy); Univ. of Venice (Italy)], Antonenko, Daniil S. [Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)] (ORCID:0000000329907258), Venderbos, Jörn W. F. [Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)], Occhialini, Connor A. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221335155), Ilyas, Batyr [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000251352378), Ergeçen, Emre [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)], Gedik, Nuh [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000263944987), Cheong, Sang-Wook [Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000199056175), Fernandes, Rafael M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000235845180), Picozzi, Silvia [Univ. degli Studi di Chieti (Italy); Univ. of Milano-Bicocca, Milan (Italy)], Comin, Riccardo [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000210699973). 2025-05-28. Electrical switching of a p-wave magnet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09034-7

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