Identifying promising altermagnetic materials
Abstract
Magnetism is one of the most fascinating phenomena in physics and humanity has studied magnetic materials for thousands of years. Altermagnets form a novel class of magnetic materials that was only discovered around the year 2022. They are characterized by magnetic polarization of the electronic bands without an overall net magnetic moment. The unique electromagnetic properties of altermagnets make them suitable for applications in spintronics, for example due to their ability to produce spin-polarized currents.
This project aims to identify new altermagnetic materials with both good physical properties and a sustainable composition. This will be done using high-throughput electronic structure calculations that allow us to see which materials are altermagnetic and to classify their performance as an altermagnet. Databases of known (magnetic) materials will be used as the starting point for the search. For the altermagnetic performance, we will look at the magnitude of the altermagnetic band splitting, electronic properties like the band gap but also at the likely cost/toxicity of the elements that make up a particular altermagnet.
