Altermagnet’s Charge Carriers Change in Different Directions

• Altermagnets, a rare class of materials, can conduct with electrons in one direction and holes in another, allowing them to act as both n- and p-type parts of a circuit or thermoelectric device.

• Researchers at the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science discovered the first altermagnet, chromium-antimony (CrSb), that displays DDCP.

• The study measured the Hall effect and the Seebeck effect along the length and breadth of the crystal, revealing that electrons dominated along the plane of the crystal, while holes took over along the vertical axis.

• CrSb’s easy synthesis, abundant element composition, and switchable polarity make it a promising platform for future electronics and thermoelectrics.

• The minuscule magnetic moments of atoms in altermagnets cancel each other out, causing electrons with different spins to behave differently, even though the material isn’t magnetic overall.