Strain-tunable anomalous Hall effect in hexagonal MnTe

Abstract

The ability to control and manipulate time-reversal ($T$) symmetry-breaking phases with near-zero net magnetization is a sought-after goal in spintronic devices. The recently discovered hexagonal altermagnet manganese telluride ($\alpha$-MnTe) is a prime example. It has a compensated altermagnetic ground state where the magnetic moments are aligned in each layer and stacked antiparallel along the $c$ axis, yet it exhibits a spontaneous anomalous Hall effect (AHE) that breaks the $T$-symmetry with a vanishingly small $c$-axis ferromagnetic (FM) moment. However, the presence of three 120$^\circ$ separated in-plane magnetic domains presents a challenge in understanding the origin of the AHE and the effective control of the altermagnetic state. Here we use neutron scattering to show that symmetry breaking anisotropic strain, induced by compressive uniaxial pressure along the nearest-neighbor (NN) Mn-Mn bond directions, detwins $\alpha$-MnTe into a single in-plane magnetic domain. This control over in-plane domains allows us to unambiguously establish that the in-plane moments are aligned along the NNN Mn-Mn bond direction, irrespective of the applied strain directions. Mounting the sample on a piezoelectric strain cell along both NN and NNN directions can drive the sample into a single-domain state that significantly sharpens the AHE hysteresis loop and extends the AHE to lower temperatures. Furthermore, tuning the uniaxial strain reverses the sign of the AHE near room temperature. Remarkably, this is achieved without altering the altermagnetic phase-transition temperature or substantially changing the small $c$-axis FM moment. Combined with our phenomenological model, we argue that these effects result from the modification of the electronic Berry curvature by a combination of both spin-orbit coupling and strain. (See the full abstract in the PDF.)