Emergent Interfacial Magnetism in Epitaxial RuO2
Yudi Yang, Zhuang Qian, Shi Liu, Congjun Wu
Abstract
The magnetic ground state of the altermagnet candidate RuO2 remains controversial, with magnetic signatures observed mainly in epitaxial films. Here we show, using first-principles calculations, that magnetism in epitaxial RuO2 can emerge as an interfacial boundary phase at TiO2/RuO2 interfaces. While TiO2-induced epitaxial strain alone does not make (001)-oriented RuO2 magnetic, explicit TiO2/RuO2 interfaces stabilize sizable Ru moments confined to the first few Ru layers. Charge-density and orbital-resolved analyses reveal interfacial electronic reconstruction, and substrate doping provides a route to tune the induced moments. In symmetric TiO2/RuO2/TiO2 heterostructures, the two magnetic interfaces couple through the metallic RuO2 spacer, producing a thickness-dependent alternation between weak-ferromagnetic and compensated altermagnetic states. Our results identify interface engineering as a practical route to stabilize and control fragile magnetism in RuO2.
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