Physicists Confirm Altermagnetism in Manganese Telluride
Researchers at SLAC detect chirality in electron spins to prove a third magnetic state.
By Letizia Giugliano
2 min readHuman-Edited, AI-Assisted
Physicists led by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have confirmed the existence of a third magnetic phase known as altermagnetism. Reported on October 30, 2026, in the journal Science, the physical innovation provides direct experimental proof of chirality in manganese telluride, verifying a magnetic structure predicted only in 2022.
Breaking a ninety-year magnetic binary
For nearly 90 years, physics recognized only two types of spontaneous magnetism. In ferromagnets, electronic spins align in the same direction to produce a macroscopic magnetic field. In antiferromagnets, discovered in 1933, spins alternate in opposite directions and cancel each other out, leaving no external magnetic field. The new innovation published by Phys.org confirms that altermagnetism combines traits from both categories. It has alternating spins that yield zero net magnetization, yet it permits usable spin currents usually restricted to ferromagnets.
“In the past few years, scientists have observed phenomena that don't fit neatly into the ferromagnetism-antiferromagnetism dichotomy.”
— Daniel Jost, associate scientist at SLAC and Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences
Detecting chirality in electron spins
To identify altermagnetism, researchers looked for chirality, or structural handedness. While an altermagnet shares an alternating up-and-down spin sequence with traditional antiferromagnets, the crystal lattice around its upward spins is rotated relative to the lattice around its downward spins. According to Phys.org, this geometric twist breaks spatial symmetry and prevents the atomic structure from overlapping with its mirror image. Lead author Daniel Jost, an associate scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, worked alongside team members including Rachel Nickel of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility to verify this handedness experimentally.
Prospects for memory devices and data centers
The experimental validation of altermagnets in manganese telluride establishes a concrete platform for future hardware. Materials displaying this third state could allow engineers to manipulate spin currents without the stray magnetic fields that disturb packed circuits. As noted by Phys.org, researchers point to prospective applications across advanced memory devices, high-density data centers, and quantum technologies, paving the way for future patent opportunities in next-generation computing.
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