🧲 Nanoscale X-ray Imaging Unveils Bulk Altermagnetism in MnTe

Nanoscale X-ray imaging reveals altermagnetism in MnTe

Published: October 2025 — Original article on Phys.org

An international team of scientists led by Claire Donnelly at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids has used cutting-edge nanoscale X-ray imaging to directly observe bulk altermagnetic domains in single crystals of MnTe (manganese telluride). This breakthrough, published in Physical Review Applied, provides the strongest experimental confirmation yet that altermagnetism — a newly discovered form of magnetic order — exists not just at surfaces or in thin films but throughout the bulk of a material.

Using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) with circularly polarized light, the researchers were able to map nanoscale variations in magnetic order inside MnTe with unprecedented precision. The observed signals matched theoretical predictions almost perfectly, confirming that the material’s interior exhibits a robust altermagnetic state.

🌐 From Antiferromagnets to Altermagnets

Magnetic materials have shaped human civilization, from the discovery of lodestones to today’s magnetic memory and energy technologies. Traditionally, materials have been classified as ferromagnets (with a net magnetic moment) or antiferromagnets (where opposite spins cancel out, leading to no net magnetization). In his Nobel lecture, Louis Néel famously described antiferromagnets as “useless” for practical applications because their lack of net magnetization made them difficult to detect or manipulate.

That perception has changed dramatically in recent years with the emergence of **altermagnetism** — a magnetic state that combines the **zero net magnetization of antiferromagnets** with **ferromagnet-like spin splitting**. First predicted theoretically only a few years ago, altermagnets exhibit unique symmetries that give rise to **spin-polarized electronic structures** without breaking time-reversal symmetry. This makes them highly promising for **ultrafast, low-energy spintronic devices**.

Until now, however, most experimental observations of altermagnetism have been made using thin films or surface-sensitive techniques, leaving the bulk nature of the phenomenon an open question.

🔬 Probing Bulk Magnetism with Nanoscale X-ray Microscopy

To address this challenge, the team used lamellae extracted from single-crystal MnTe and performed STXM experiments at the **MAXYMUS beamline** of the BESSY-II synchrotron in Berlin. Circularly polarized X-rays were focused to a nanoscale spot and scanned across the sample. By measuring the **X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD)** signal — typically associated with ferromagnets — the researchers were able to detect altermagnetic order, which also produces dichroic signals despite having no net magnetization.

Crucially, by tuning the X-ray energy, the researchers confirmed that the measured dichroism originated from the bulk of the material, not just the surface. “When we compared our results, we saw that the signal strengths matched the theory almost perfectly—allowing us to confirm that the bulk of our sample is altermagnetic,” said Rikako Yamamoto, postdoctoral fellow and first author of the study.

🌀 Topological Nanotextures in Altermagnets

Beyond simply mapping domains, the high-resolution X-ray images revealed a variety of topological magnetic features, including domain walls and vortex-like textures at the nanoscale. These features resemble those seen in skyrmions and other topological spin structures in ferromagnets but arise here in a fundamentally different magnetic background.

“The fact that such structures could be seen in naturally grown single crystals was surprising,” said Yamamoto. “This hopefully means that this approach can also offer a platform for exploring topological magnetic textures—and how they behave.”

Such topological features in altermagnets could enable **robust information carriers for next-generation spintronic devices**, combining the speed and resilience of antiferromagnets with the functional versatility of ferromagnets.

🚀 Implications and Future Directions

This study provides the first **direct nanoscale view of altermagnetism in a bulk material**, marking a milestone for both fundamental magnetism and applied spintronics. The success of STXM as a bulk probe suggests that many other theoretically predicted altermagnets can now be experimentally verified.

As Marcus Schmidt of the Max Planck Institute noted, “The fact that we can now grow these materials, and directly probe their altermagnetic order on the nanoscale with X-rays is very exciting—who knows what we will find.”

The field of altermagnetism is evolving rapidly, with potential applications ranging from **low-power memory devices** and **neuromorphic computing** to **topological quantum electronics**. This breakthrough establishes X-ray nanoimaging as a key tool in that journey.

Source: “Nanoscale X-ray imaging reveals bulk altermagnetism in MnTe” (2025, October 9). Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-nanoscale-ray-imaging-reveals-bulk.html

💡 This article was prepared with the assistance of AI technologies.

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