X-ray magnetic circular dichroism originating from the $T_z$ term in collinear altermagnets under trigonal crystal field

Abstract

We investigate the microscopic origin and spectral features of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) in collinear antiferromagnets with trigonal crystal fields, using $\alpha$-MnTe as a prototypical example. Although such systems exhibit zero net magnetization, we demonstrate that XMCD can emerge from the anisotropic magnetic dipole operator $T_z$, arising from quadrupolar spin distributions. By constructing a complete multipole basis and analyzing the symmetry conditions under trigonal distortion, we identify specific spin and orbital configurations that enable a finite XMCD response. Further, we employ both one-electron and multi-electron models, including spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb interactions, to calculate the XMCD spectra for various $d^n$ configurations. Our findings provide theoretical benchmarks for XMCD in altermagnets and highlight the key role of orbital symmetry and magnetic anisotropy in realizing observable dichroic effects.

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