Ultrafast altermagnetophononics

Abstract

Altermagnets feature symmetry-dictated nontrivial spin splitting in electronic structure promising for next-generation spintronics, yet their ultrafast dynamical manipulation remains largely unexplored. Here, we establish altermagnetophononics as an efficient route for magnetic control via selective symmetry breaking induced by coherent phonons. Using the prototypical altermagnet $α$-MnTe as an example, we demonstrate that the targeted excitation of B$_{1g}$ mode selectively lifts the symmetry constraints protecting altermagnetism (AM), driving ultrafast transition into a transient compensated ferrimagnetic (cFiM) phase characterized by a global spin splitting without net magnetization. Further, we show that the proposed mechanism is broadly applicable by demonstrating a multi-mode symmetry breaking pathway, and by realizing a ferrimagnetic order with reversible magnetic moment in metallic CrSb. These findings elucidate the potential to obtain desirable nonequilibrium properties in altermagnets via coherent phononic control over their spin splittings.