Intrinsic Spin Filter Effect in a $d$-wave altermagnet KV$_2$Se$_2$O with Open Fermi Surface
Abstract
Altermagnets offer a unique pathway to functional spintronics by combining vanishing magnetization with large spin splitting. Here, we demonstrate that the canonical d-wave altermagnet KV2Se2O can deliver giant tunneling magnetoresistance through orientation-dependent spin filtering. By analyzing the crystallographic spin segregation, we show that transport along specific crystallographic axes is nearly fully spin-polarized within the symmetry-protected ballistic channels. We implement this mechanism in a lattice-matched KV2Se2O/Bi2O2Se/KV2Se2O magnetic tunnel junction, which achieves a robust half-metallic transport regime. The symmetry-protected spectral gap in the parallel/anti-parallel configuration ensures a high tunneling magnetoresistance ratio, resulting in substantial tunneling magnetoresistance, robust thermally driven spin filtering, and spin Seebeck effect at room temperature. These findings provide a path of altermagnetic heterostructures as a high-performance platform for scalable, field-free, and thermally stable spin logic.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Topological Materials and Phenomena
2D Materials and Applications
Heusler alloys: electronic and magnetic properties
Publication details
- Journal / source
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Publication date
- 25 February 2026
- Document type
- Preprint