Projected altermagnetism by symmetry reduction at surfaces and in thin films

Abstract

Altermagnets are a newly identified class of magnetic materials that combine vanishing net magnetization within the unit cell with spin-split electronic states. Their theoretical description relies on symmetry properties of the bulk band structure. Surfaces and thin films, however, inherently break these symmetries. Here, we investigate the consequences of such symmetry reduction for the electronic structure of bulk altermagnets near the surface and of thin films. When the surface coincides with a symmetry plane of the bulk altermagnetic order, the resulting two-dimensional Brillouin zone exhibits spin-degenerate bands, corresponding to conventional antiferromagnetic behavior. In all other cases, the symmetry of the altermagnetic order is reduced, leading to modified spin splitting. Remarkably, we discover a thin-film geometry of a $g$-wave altermagnet with a particular surface orientation that enables a $d$-wave spin splitting, which is commonly accompanied by the spin-splitter effect, suggesting the functionalization of non-$d$-wave altermagnets by surfaces. Our findings demonstrate that symmetry breaking at surfaces and in thin films fundamentally reshapes altermagnetic spin textures, providing a tunable platform for controlling spin-dependent electronic phenomena.