Controlling an altermagnetic spin density wave in the kagome magnet CsCr₃Sb₅.

Abstract

The interplay of charge and spin orders lies at the heart of correlated electron physics and plays a critical role in the emergence of unconventional quantum phases. Kagome magnets provide a particularly promising platform to investigate these phenomena, owing to their geometrically frustrated lattice structure. However, resolving spin and charge orders microscopically and establishing ways to control them remain fundamental challenges. Here, we demonstrate magnetic-field control of an altermagnetic spin density wave order intertwined with charge density wave order in kagome magnet CsCr₃Sb₅. Scanning tunneling microscopy down to deep cryogenic temperature of 50 mK reveals two previously unreported charge density wave orders. Density functional theory confirms that one of them, a 4<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><msub><mrow><mi>a</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow></msub><mo>×</mo><msqrt><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow></msqrt><msub><mrow><mi>a</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow></msub></math> charge order, is coupled to a spin density wave with an altermagnetic ground state. The charge density waves can be tuned in both amplitude and phase by an external magnetic field, reflected in domain switching and stripe sliding of the charge density wave. Our findings deepen the understanding of symmetry-breaking in kagome systems, providing a tunable platform to explore the interplay of electronic correlation with emergent quantum magnetism.