Pure Spin Photocurrent in an Altermagnetic Photovoltaic Battery

Abstract Altermagnets, featuring momentum-dependent spin splitting without net magnetization, provide a promising platform for spintronic functionalities beyond conventional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Here, we propose an altermagnetic spin photovoltaic battery consisting of a nonmagnetic centrosymmetric semiconductor sandwiched between two altermagnetic electrodes. Using first-principles quantum-transport simulations, we show that a V2Te2O/ZnSe/V2Te2O junction supports a pure spin photocurrent for opposite Néel vectors in the two altermagnetic electrodes, with spin-up and spin-down photocurrents equal in magnitude and opposite in sign. The effect persists under both linearly and circularly polarized light and remains tunable with photon energy and polarization angle. Our results establish a realistic route toward light-driven pure spin-current generation in altermagnetic junctions.