The project is carried out under the call HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01 (MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024).

Project Description:

The ART.QM (Altermagnetic Robust Topological Quantum Materials) project represents an ambitious research proposal implemented within the prestigious European program HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024). This two-year project is focused on the study of Weyl altermagnets, a brand-new and ground-breaking class of magnetic materials that combines the advantages of both ferromagnets and antiferromagnets.

The host institution for the project is New Technologies – Research Centre (NTC) at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB), led by Prof. Ján Minár. The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany is also collaborating closely on the project, where research fellow Dr. Jakub Schusser will complete a key research stay in the team of Prof. Jairo Sinova.

Scientific Context and Innovation:

Modern solid-state physics has undergone a revolution thanks to topological band theory, which led to the discovery of new materials such as topological insulators and semimetals. In parallel, altermagnetism—the third fundamental class of collinear magnets—was recently confirmed experimentally. Altermagnets have zero net magnetization (similar to antiferromagnets), but at the same time exhibit giant spin-splitting of electronic bands (similar to ferromagnets). The ART.QM project explores what happens when these two areas intersect: how topological states (so-called Weyl points) emerge in altermagnetic materials. Understanding the mechanisms of their origin promises a breakthrough in fields such as spintronics, quantum and neuromorphic computing, or superconductivity.

Main Objectives of the Project:

The research is divided into four key Work Packages with the following objectives:

• Software Development: Implementation of new modules into the SPR-KKR computational package for calculating Berry Curvature (BC) and Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) in an atomic basis.
• Experimental Verification: Conducting advanced photoemission experiments (ARPES) on materials such as MnTe, CrSb, or Mn3Ge.
• Connecting Theory and Practice: Identifying a direct relationship between theoretically calculated wavefunction properties and measured experimental data (dichroism).
• Modeling the Formation of Weyl Points: Creating a comprehensive model for the generation of topological states in altermagnets.

Impact and Open Science:

ART.QM fully adheres to the principles of Open Science. All developed software tools will be made available to the scientific community, and results will be published in open-access mode. The project also emphasizes environmental responsibility in accordance with the MSCA Green Charter, for example by using solar energy to power computational servers. This research not only pushes the boundaries of human knowledge in physics, but also strengthens the position of the Czech Republic and the European Union at the forefront of global quantum research.

Keywords:

Altermagnetism, topology, Berry curvature, orbital angular momentum, photoemission, electronic properties of materials, surfaces, interfaces, nanostructures, etc., condensed matter physics, spintronics

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101209345.