Stacking-Dependent Interlayer Magnetic Coupling in 2D CrI3/CrGeTe3 Nanostructures for Spintronics

Jing Shang, Xiao Tang, Xin Tan, Aijun Du, Ting Liao, Sean C. Smith, Yuantong Gu, Chun Li, Liangzhi Kou*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    54 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The recent emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials with intrinsic long-range magnetic order opens the avenue of fundamental physics studies and the spintronics application; however, the mechanism of interlayer magnetic coupling and the feasible way to control magnetic states are yet to be fully investigated. In the present study, from first-principle calculations, we studied the interlayer magnetic coupling of 2D CrI3/CrGeTe3 heterostructures and revealed the stacking-dependent magnetic states. It is found that AB and AB1 stacking are prefer ferromagnetic interlayer coupling, while the other two stacked configurations are in the ferrimagnetic state. The underlying mechanism has contributed to the competition between nearest-neighbor (NN) and second-nearest-neighbor (SNN) Cr-Cr atoms interaction between layers. Meanwhile, it is also found that the electronic properties are stacking dependent, while the band edge states are separated to the different layers. The magnetic and electronic states can be effectively tuned by the external strain. Based on these findings, the magnetic domain devices are proposed in the twisted magnetic heterostructures with the domain size and interlayer coupling being controlled by the rotation angle. Our study thus provides an approach to achieve the controllable magnetic/electronic properties which is not only important for fundamental research but also useful for the practical applications in spintronics.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1282-1288
    Number of pages7
    JournalACS Applied Nano Materials
    Volume3
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 28 Feb 2020

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Stacking-Dependent Interlayer Magnetic Coupling in 2D CrI3/CrGeTe3 Nanostructures for Spintronics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this