Eliminating Skyrmion Hall Effect in Ferromagnetic Skyrmions.

Skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) remains an obstacle for the application of magnetic skyrmions. While methods have been established to cancel or compensate SkHE in artificial antiferromagnets and ferrimagnets, eliminating intrinsic SkHE in ferromagnets is still a big challenge. Here, we propose a strategy to eliminate SkHE by intercalating nonmagnetic elements into van der Waals bilayer ferromagnets featuring in-plane ferromagnetism. The in-plane magnetism, along with a delicate balance among exchange interactions, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI), and magnetocrystalline anisotropy, creates interlayer bimerons/quadmerons, whose polarity can be controlled by DMI. Opposite DMI in the upper and lower layers results in opposite polarity and topological charge number Q-locking of topological spin texture, therefore, eliminating the SkHE. By intercalating Sr (Ba) in bilayer VSe2, we identify ten topological magnetic structures with zero topological charge number. Furthermore, we present a phase diagram illustrating diverse magnetic configurations achievable within the bimagnetic atomic layer, offering valuable guidance for future investigations.

Vacancy-Induced Anionic Electrons in Single-Metal Oxides and Their Possible Applications in Ammonia Synthesis.

Realizating of a low work function (WF) and room-temperature stability in electrides is highly desired for various applications, such as electron emitters, catalysts, and ion batteries. Herein, a criterion based on the electron localization function (ELF) and projected density of states (PDOS) in the vacancy of the oxide electride [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e-) (C12A7) was adopted to screen out 13 electrides in single-metal oxides. By creating oxygen vacancies in nonelectride oxides, we find out 9 of them showed vacancy-induced anionic electrons. Considering the thermodynamic stability, two electrides with ordered vacancies, Nb3O3 and Ce4O3, stand out and show vacancy-induced zero-dimensional anionic electrons. Both exhibit low WFs, namely 3.1 and 2.3 eV for Nb3O3 and Ce4O3, respectively. In the case of Nb3O3, the ELF at oxygen vacancies decreases first and then increases during the decrease in the total number of electrons in self-consistent calculations due to Nb's multivalent state. Meanwhile, Ce4O3 displays promise for ammonia synthesis due to its low hydrogen diffusion barrier and low activation energy. Further calculations revealed that CeO with disordered vacancies at low concentrations also exhibits electride-like properties, suggesting its potential as a substitute for Ce4O3.

Nonvolatile Multistate Manipulation of Topological Magnetism in Monolayer CrI3 through Quadruple-Well Ferroelectric Materials.

Nonvolatile multistate manipulation of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials holds promise for low dissipation, highly integrated, and versatile spintronic devices. Here, utilizing density functional theory calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, we report the realization of nonvolatile and multistate control of topological magnetism in monolayer CrI3 by constructing multiferroic heterojunctions with quadruple-well ferroelectric (FE) materials. The Pt2Sn2Te6/CrI3 heterojunction exhibits multiple magnetic phases upon modulating FE polarization states of FE layers and interlayer sliding. These magnetic phases include Bloch-type skyrmions and ferromagnetism, as well as a newly discovered topological magnetic structure. We reveal that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) induced by interfacial coupling plays a crucial role in magnetic skyrmion manipulation, which aligns with the Fert-Levy mechanism. Moreover, a regular magnetic skyrmion lattice survives when removing a magnetic field, demonstrating its robustness. The work sheds light on an effective approach to nonvolatile and multistate control of 2D magnetic materials.