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Two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials hold promise for the development of high-density, energy-efficient spintronic devices for memory and computation. Recent breakthroughs in material discoveries and spin-orbit torque control of vdW ferromagnets have opened a path for integration of vdW magnets in commercial spintronic devices. However, a solution for field-free electric control of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) vdW magnets at room temperatures, essential for building compact and thermally stable spintronic devices, is still missing. Here, we report a solution for the field-free, deterministic, and nonvolatile switching of a PMA vdW ferromagnet, Fe3GaTe2, above room temperature (up to 320 K). We use the unconventional out-of-plane anti-damping torque from an adjacent WTe2layer to enable such switching with a low current density of 2.23 × 106A cm−2. This study exemplifies the efficacy of low-symmetry vdW materials for spin-orbit torque control of vdW ferromagnets and provides an all-vdW solution for the next generation of scalable and energy-efficient spintronic devices.
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Two-dimensional Dirac spin-gapless semiconductors with tunable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a robust quantum anomalous Hall effect
A major recent breakthrough in materials science is the emergence of intrinsic magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) crystals, which opens the door to more cutting-edge fields in the 2D family and could eventually lead to novel data-storage and information devices with further miniaturization. Herein we propose an experimentally feasible 2D material, Fe 2 I 2 , which is an intrinsic room-temperature ferromagnet exhibiting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that single-layer (SL) Fe 2 I 2 is a spin-gapless semiconductor with a spin-polarized Dirac cone and linear energy dispersion in one spin channel, exhibiting promising dissipation-less transport properties with a Fermi velocity up to 6.39 × 10 5 m s −1 . Our results reveal that both strain and ferroelectric polarization switching could induce an out-of- to in-plane spin reorientation in the 2D Fe 2 I 2 layer, revealing its advantage in assembling spintronic devices. In addition, spin–orbit coupling (SOC) triggers a topologically nontrivial band gap of 301 meV with a nonzero Chern number (| C | = 2), giving rise to a robust quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state. The 2D crystal also exhibits high carrier mobilites of 0.452 × 10 3 and 0.201 × 10 3 cm 2 V −1 s −1 for the electrons and holes, respectively. The combination of these unique properties renders the 2D Fe 2 I 2 ferromagnet a promising platform for high efficiency multi-functional spintronic applications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1828019
- PAR ID:
- 10226260
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Materials Horizons
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2051-6347
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2071 to 2077
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/d0mh00396d
