Electrically Switchable Nonrelativistic Zeeman Spin Splittings in Collinear Antiferromagnets

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Spintronics

Background:

• Electrical manipulation of electron spin is key for spintronic devices, but current methods using spin-orbit interaction (SOI) are limited by relativistic effects causing spin relaxation and energy dissipation.
• Nonrelativistic Zeeman spin splittings (NRZSSs) in collinear antiferromagnets offer a potential pathway for low-power, nonrelativistic electrical spin manipulation.
• A theoretical framework explaining the mechanisms behind NRZSSs and guiding material discovery was previously lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a theory elucidating the mechanisms of electric-field switchable nonrelativistic Zeeman spin splittings (NRZSSs) in collinear antiferromagnets.
• To provide guidelines for discovering new materials exhibiting NRZSSs for spintronic applications.
• To enable low-power, efficient electrical control of spin in next-generation computing and memory devices.

Main Methods:

• Symmetry analysis of spin point groups to establish theoretical mechanisms for NRZSSs.
• Identification of linear magnetoelectric and bilinear piezomagnetoelectric effects as key mechanisms.
• First-principles calculations to verify the existence of NRZSSs in specific materials (FeOOH and NaMnP).

Main Results:

• A theory is presented that explains how electric fields can induce switchable NRZSSs in collinear antiferromagnets.
• The theory highlights linear magnetoelectric and bilinear piezomagnetoelectric mechanisms responsible for electrically controlled spin splittings.
• First-principles calculations confirm the presence of NRZSSs in FeOOH and NaMnP, validating the theoretical predictions.

Conclusions:

• The developed theory provides a fundamental understanding of electrically switchable NRZSSs in antiferromagnets.
• This work offers a roadmap for discovering light-element collinear antiferromagnets suitable for spintronic devices.
• The findings pave the way for designing high-performance, low-power spintronic logic, computing, and memory applications.