# Neutron study aligns magnetic orientations in an altermagnetic MnTe crystal

> Researchers led by Forschungszentrum Jülich used neutron diffraction to study an α-MnTe single crystal. An in-plane magnetic field largely aligned its orientational domains near two tesla, although the team said the observation did not establish a fully single-domain structure.

- Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/mn-te-altermagnet-field-induced-domain-alignment-neutron-study-2026
- Publisher: Newsverum
- Section: Science
- Country: Germany
- Published: 2026-10-13T00:51:41+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-13T00:51:41+00:00
- Event / data period: 2026-10-09
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Different in-plane orientations of magnetic moments in α-MnTe affect the material’s symmetry and possible measurable responses. The researchers conducted single-crystal neutron diffraction under a field along \[−1,1,0\]; selected magnetic reflection intensities changed up to about 2 T and then saturated.

A constrained refinement of 61 nuclear and magnetic reflections collected at 2 kelvin and 2 tesla indicated that the field favoured orientation \[1,1,0\], with domain populations of 0.97:0.03(5):0. Because the zero-field sample contained multiple orientations, the paper describes the result as a near-single-orientation state; it cannot distinguish antiphase domains.

## Data

### Reported study result

Number of reflections used to refine the field-prepared magnetic structure from single-crystal neutron diffraction.

Methodology: The constrained refinement by the Jülich team used 61 nuclear and magnetic reflections at 2 K and 2 T. Alignment saturated near 2 T; the authors do not describe the result as a fully single-domain state.

| Reported quantity | Value | Study-specific scope |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections used in the field-on structural refinement at 2 K and 2 T | 61 | Number of reflections used to refine the field-prepared magnetic structure from single-crystal neutron diffraction. |

Sources: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13444> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/mn-te-altermagnet-field-induced-domain-alignment-neutron-study-2026/data/study-result?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/mn-te-altermagnet-field-induced-domain-alignment-neutron-study-2026/data/study-result?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [arXiv](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13444>) (Source checked: 2026-10-13; Published: 2026-10-09)

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