Absence of Altermagnetic Spin Splitting Character in Rutile Oxide RuO_{2}.

Abstract

Rutile RuO_{2} has been posited as a potential d-wave altermagnetism candidate, with a predicted significant spin splitting up to 1.4 eV. Despite accumulating theoretical predictions and transport measurements, direct spectroscopic observation of spin splitting has remained elusive. Here, we employ spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the band structures and spin polarization of thin-film and single-crystal RuO_{2}. Contrary to expectations of altermagnetism, our analysis indicates that RuO_{2}'s electronic structure aligns with those predicted under nonmagnetic conditions, exhibiting no evidence of the hypothesized spin splitting. Additionally, we observe significant in-plane spin polarization of the low-lying bulk bands, which is antisymmetric about the high-symmetry plane and contrary to the d-wave spin texture due to time-reversal symmetry breaking in altermagnetism. These findings definitively challenge the altermagnetic order previously proposed for rutile RuO_{2}, prompting a reevaluation of its magnetic properties.