Intertwined ferromagnetic and altermagnetic orders in Cr-doped MnTe
Abstract
Ferromagnetism and altermagnetism both break time-reversal symmetry, yet their distinct transformation properties under crystalline symmetries forbid direct bilinear coupling between their order parameters. Whether these two magnetic orders can remain thermodynamically distinct while strongly influencing one another remains an open question. Here we demonstrate the homogeneous coexistence of ferromagnetism and altermagnetism in Cr-doped MnTe. By tuning the ferromagnetic ordering temperature across the nearly unchanged Néel temperature with Cr doping, we uncover a striking interplay between the two orders: the ferromagnetic transition becomes a crossover when altermagnetism develops first, whereas the onset of altermagnetism strongly suppresses the out-of-plane ferromagnetic remanence when ferromagnetism develops first. Moreover, spin-orbit coupling enables symmetry-selective interactions through which the ferromagnetic moment controls the altermagnetic domain manifold, with its out-of-plane and in-plane components biasing the time-reversal (Z2) and orientational (Z3) sectors, respectively. Our results reveal how two symmetry-distinct magnetic orders can retain separate ordering tendencies while remaining strongly coupled, providing a route towards internal control of altermagnetic domain states.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{destefano2026intertwined,
title = {{Intertwined ferromagnetic and altermagnetic orders in Cr-doped MnTe}},
author = {Jonathan M. DeStefano and Yaofeng Xie and Guodong Ren and Mai Nguyen and Yue Sun and Xiaodong Xu and Juan Carlos Idrobo and Jiun-Haw Chu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.40870},
eprint = {2610.40870},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40870},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Intertwined ferromagnetic and altermagnetic orders in Cr-doped MnTe
AU - Jonathan M. DeStefano
AU - Yaofeng Xie
AU - Guodong Ren
AU - Mai Nguyen
AU - Yue Sun
AU - Xiaodong Xu
AU - Juan Carlos Idrobo
AU - Jiun-Haw Chu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.40870
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.40870
AB - Ferromagnetism and altermagnetism both break time-reversal symmetry, yet their distinct transformation properties under crystalline symmetries forbid direct bilinear coupling between their order parameters. Whether these two magnetic orders can remain thermodynamically distinct while strongly influencing one another remains an open question. Here we demonstrate the homogeneous coexistence of ferromagnetism and altermagnetism in Cr-doped MnTe. By tuning the ferromagnetic ordering temperature across the nearly unchanged Néel temperature with Cr doping, we uncover a striking interplay between the two orders: the ferromagnetic transition becomes a crossover when altermagnetism develops first, whereas the onset of altermagnetism strongly suppresses the out-of-plane ferromagnetic remanence when ferromagnetism develops first. Moreover, spin-orbit coupling enables symmetry-selective interactions through which the ferromagnetic moment controls the altermagnetic domain manifold, with its out-of-plane and in-plane components biasing the time-reversal (Z_2) and orientational (Z_3) sectors, respectively. Our results reveal how two symmetry-distinct magnetic orders can retain separate ordering tendencies while remaining strongly coupled, providing a route towards internal control of altermagnetic domain states.
ER -