Spin-resolved quasiparticle interference patterns on altermagnets via non-spin-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy
Abstract
We investigate quasiparticle interference on an altermagnetic Lieb-like lattice and show how a non-spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy measurement can yield effectively spin-resolved information. Within a four-site tight-binding model, which can be tuned between an antiferromagnetic and a Lieb-type altermagnetic state, we introduce on-site impurities at distinct sublattice sites and compute the real space local density of states (LDOS) via a Green's function approach. A Fourier transformation of the impurity-induced LDOS yields the characteristic -wave spin-split Fermi surface contours of the altermagnetic phase. Notably, by choosing which sublattice the impurity is placed upon, we show that the scattering amplitudes effectively encode spin-dependent contrasts: Impurities on one of the magnetic sublattices highlights predominantly spin-up contributions along one crystallographic direction, while impurities on the other one favor the complementary spin-down channel and orientation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.04773,
title = {Spin-resolved quasiparticle interference patterns on altermagnets via non-spin-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy},
author = {Eric Petermann and Kristian Mæland and Björn Trauzettel},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.04773},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
9 pages, 4 figures