Circular phonon dichroism in $d$-wave altermagnets

Abstract

Altermagnets, a new class of collinear antiferromagnets, exhibit momentum-dependent spin splitting and offer compelling advantages for antiferromagnetic spintronics. However, the magnetic order is intrinsically difficult to read out, which hinders practical applications. We propose finite-momentum circular phonon dichroism as a direct probe of Néel vector in two-dimensional $d$-wave altermagnets. Combining Onsager reciprocity with $C_{2z}$ lattice symmetry, we find that the dichroic signal reverses sign when the Néel vector is flipped for the in-plane phonon wave vectors. Moreover, a channel-resolved decomposition identifies the circular phonon dichroism originates from the interband coherent transitions. Representative finite-momentum cuts show pronounced dichroic asymmetric ratio, with $|\hat{I}{\cdot }_{\mathrm{CPD}}|=37.3\%$. Our work reveals that the circular-ultrasound absorption acts as a direct probe of the Néel vector of $d$-wave altermagnets.

6 pages, 5 figures. Comments welcome