Altermagnetic type-II multiferroics with Néel-order-locked electric polarization
8 affiliations
- 1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- 2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- 3Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. [email protected]
- 4Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Quantum Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University, Suzhou, China. [email protected]
- 5Jiangsu Physical Science Research Center, Nanjing, China. [email protected]
- 6National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. [email protected]
- 7Shishan Laboratory, Suzhou Campus of Nanjing University, Suzhou, China. [email protected]
- 8Center for Quantum Transport and Thermal Energy Science, Institute of Physics Frontiers and Interdisciplinary Sciences, School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China. [email protected]
Abstract
Altermagnetism, an emergent magnetic phase featuring compensated collinear magnetic moments and momentum-dependent spin splittings, has recently garnered widespread interest. A critical issue concerns whether the unconventional spin structures can generate spontaneous electric polarization in altermagnets, thereby achieving type-II multiferroicity. Here, with the combination of symmetry analysis and metal-ligand model, we explicitly demonstrate the generation of electric polarization by altermagnetic Néel order. We further uncover the locking behaviors between Néel order and electric polarization, which are classified into eight distinct categories for two-dimensional altermagnets governed by layer group symmetries. Then we take monolayer MgFe2N2 as a prototypical example of altermagnetic type-II multiferroics by first-principles calculations. We also propose to identify the Néel order and accompanying electric polarization in altermagnetic multiferroics by magneto-optical microscopy. Bridging type-II multiferroics and altermagnets, our work could pave the way for altermagnetic multifunctional spintronics. There are several examples of ferroelectric altermagnetic materials; however, it remains an active question as to whether an electric polarization can be induced by altermagnetic spin ordering. Here, Guo, Xu and coauthors demonstrate a link between the electric polarization vector and the altermagnetic Néel order parameter, which unambiguously realizes type-II multiferroicity.
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BibTeX
@article{guo2026altermagnetic,
title = {{Altermagnetic type-II multiferroics with Néel-order-locked electric polarization}},
author = {Wen-Ti Guo and Junqi Xu and Yurong Yang and Haijun Zhang and Huaiqiang Wang},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-73750-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73750-5},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Altermagnetic type-II multiferroics with Néel-order-locked electric polarization
AU - Wen-Ti Guo
AU - Junqi Xu
AU - Yurong Yang
AU - Haijun Zhang
AU - Huaiqiang Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/27
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73750-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73750-5
AB - Altermagnetism, an emergent magnetic phase featuring compensated collinear magnetic moments and momentum-dependent spin splittings, has recently garnered widespread interest. A critical issue concerns whether the unconventional spin structures can generate spontaneous electric polarization in altermagnets, thereby achieving type-II multiferroicity. Here, with the combination of symmetry analysis and metal-ligand model, we explicitly demonstrate the generation of electric polarization by altermagnetic Néel order. We further uncover the locking behaviors between Néel order and electric polarization, which are classified into eight distinct categories for two-dimensional altermagnets governed by layer group symmetries. Then we take monolayer MgFe2N2 as a prototypical example of altermagnetic type-II multiferroics by first-principles calculations. We also propose to identify the Néel order and accompanying electric polarization in altermagnetic multiferroics by magneto-optical microscopy. Bridging type-II multiferroics and altermagnets, our work could pave the way for altermagnetic multifunctional spintronics. There are several examples of ferroelectric altermagnetic materials; however, it remains an active question as to whether an electric polarization can be induced by altermagnetic spin ordering. Here, Guo, Xu and coauthors demonstrate a link between the electric polarization vector and the altermagnetic Néel order parameter, which unambiguously realizes type-II multiferroicity.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -