Emergence and Detection of Surface altermagnetism in KV$_2$Se$_2$O

Abstract

We demonstrate the recent concept of emergent surface altermagnetism through its unique signatures in \KVSO. We show that for bulk antiferromagnetically ordered \KVSO, the (001) surface exhibits $d$-wave altermagnetism. Our results fully explain the recent seemingly contradicgting experimental evidence, independently showing both an antiferromagnetically ordered bulk from neutron diffraction, and $d$-wave spin splitting from photoemission spectroscopy. To fully verify this conecept, we predict, as a key experimental signature, a large nonlinear Edelstein response, which is localized at the surface, and follows the $d$-wave altermagnetic symmetry. These results are not only relevant for the metallic and room-temperature magnet \KVSO, but also for several other Lieb lattice systems. Our work expands the pool of techniques that can be used to detect altermagnetism emerging at the surfaces of antiferromagnets.