English

Altermagnetic Flatband-Driven Fermi Surface Geometry for Giant Tunneling Magnetoresistance

Materials Science 2026-03-10 v2

Abstract

Altermagnetism, characterized by zero net magnetization and symmetry-protected spin-split band structures, has recently emerged as a promising platform for spintronics. In altermagnetic tunnel junctions (AMTJs), the suppression of tunneling in the antiparallel configuration relies on the mismatch between spin-polarized conduction channels in momentum space. However, ideal nonoverlapping spin-polarized Fermi surfaces are rarely found in bulk altermagnets. Motivated by the critical influence of Fermi surface geometry on tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR), we investigate three experimentally synthesized altermagnets -- bulk V2Te2O\mathrm{V_2Te_2O}, RbV2Te2O\mathrm{RbV_2Te_2O}, and KV2Se2O\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O} -- to elucidate how flatband-driven Fermi surfaces minimize spin-channel overlap and boost AMTJ performance. Notably, RbV2Te2O\mathrm{RbV_2Te_2O} and KV2Se2O\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O} host flat altermagnetic Fermi sheets, which confine spin degeneracy to minimal arc-like or nodal-like regions. Such Fermi surface geometry drastically reduces spin overlap, resulting in an unprecedented intrinsic TMR well over 103%10^3\% in the KV2Se2O\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O}-based AMTJ. Incorporating an insulating barrier further enhances the TMR to 106%\sim10^6\%, surpassing most conventional MTJs. These results not only establish KV2Se2O\mathrm{KV_2Se_2O} as a compelling candidate AMTJ material, but also highlight the critical role of flatband Fermi surface geometry in achieving high-performance altermagnetic-spintronic device technology.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.17277,
  title  = {Altermagnetic Flatband-Driven Fermi Surface Geometry for Giant Tunneling Magnetoresistance},
  author = {Xingyue Yang and Shibo Fang and Zongmeng Yang and Pin Ho and Jing Lu and Yee Sin Ang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.17277},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in Advanced Functional Materials (2026)