Deterministic Switching in Altermagnets via Asymmetric Sublattice Spin Current
Abstract
We demonstrate a deterministic switching mechanism in collinear altermagnets driven by asymmetric sublattice spin currents. Unlike conventional antiferromagnets, where combined parity-time-reversal symmetry enforces purely staggered sublattice spin torques, altermagnets host symmetry-protected nonrelativistic spin splitting that produces unequal torques on the two sublattices. Using doped FeSb as a representative -wave altermagnet, our Landau--Lifshitz--Gilbert simulations show that these torques enable magnetic-field-free and deterministic 180 N\'eel vector reversal over picosecond timescale. The mechanism is generic to even-parity altermagnets and remains effective even in centrosymmetric, weak spin-orbit coupled systems, where the N\'eel spin-orbit torque mechanism fails. Our results establish an experimentally accessible mechanism for switching of altermagnetic order, opening pathways for realizing ultrafast, low-power altermagnet spintronic devices.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.11362,
title = {Deterministic Switching in Altermagnets via Asymmetric Sublattice Spin Current},
author = {Sayan Sarkar and Sunit Das and Amit Agarwal},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.11362},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
4+1 figures, 1 table, comments are most welcome