Room-temperature magnetoresistance in an all-antiferromagnetic tunnel junction.

Antiferromagnetic spintronics1-16 is a rapidly growing field in condensed-matter physics and information technology with potential applications for high-density and ultrafast information devices. However, the practical application of these devices has been largely limited by small electrical outputs at room temperature. Here we describe a room-temperature exchange-bias effect between a collinear antiferromagnet, MnPt, and a non-collinear antiferromagnet, Mn3Pt, which together are similar to a ferromagnet-antiferromagnet exchange-bias system. We use this exotic effect to build all-antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions with large nonvolatile room-temperature magnetoresistance values that reach a maximum of about 100%. Atomistic spin dynamics simulations reveal that uncompensated localized spins at the interface of MnPt produce the exchange bias. First-principles calculations indicate that the remarkable tunnelling magnetoresistance originates from the spin polarization of Mn3Pt in the momentum space. All-antiferromagnetic tunnel junction devices, with nearly vanishing stray fields and strongly enhanced spin dynamics up to the terahertz level, could be important for next-generation highly integrated and ultrafast memory devices7,9,16.

Spontaneous Biskyrmion Lattice in a Centrosymmetric Rhombohedral Rare-Earth Magnet with Easy-Plane Anisotropy.

Magnetic skyrmion and its derivatives have demonstrated fascinating topological behaviors with potential applications in future spintronic devices. Despite the recent progress, the spontaneous skyrmion lattice and successive topological transition in the magnets with easy-plane magnetic anisotropy are still elusive especially at room temperature. Here, in a centrosymmetric rhombohedral Nd2Co17 magnet with easy-plane magnetic anisotropy, spontaneous biskyrmions are observed over a wide temperature range across room temperature, and then evolve into enclosed in-plane domains with nanometric size due to the enhancement of the planar magnetic anisotropy. The spontaneous generation of the biskyrmion lattice and its evolution along different crystal orientations demonstrate the crucial role of intrinsic bi-anisotropy and demagnetization effects. This discovery provides a fundamental insight into the nature of topological magnetic textures in easy-plane anisotropy materials and suggests an arena to explore the topological states in rare-earth magnets as well as their applications in spintronics.

Single-crystalline High-κ GdOCl dielectric for two-dimensional field-effect transistors.

Two-dimensional (2D) dielectrics, integrated with high-mobility semiconductors, show great promise to overcome the scaling limits in miniaturized integrated circuits. However, the 2D dielectrics explored to date still face the challenges of low crystallinity, diminished dielectric constant, and the lack of effective synthesis methods. Here, we report the controllable synthesis of ultra-thin gadolinium oxychloride (GdOCl) nanosheets via a chloride hydrate-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The resultant GdOCl nanosheets display good dielectric properties, including a high dielectric constant (high-κ) of 15.3, robust breakdown field strengths (Ebd) exceeding 9.9 MV/cm, and minimal gate leakage currents of approximately 10-6 A/cm2. The top-gated GdOCl/MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs) exhibit commendable switch characteristics, a negligible hysteresis of ~5 mV and a subthreshold swing down to 67.9 mV dec-1. The GdOCl/MoS2 FETs can also be employed to construct functional logic gates. Our study underscores the significant potential of the 2D GdOCl dielectric for innovative high-speed operated nanoelectronic devices.

Wrinkled Rhenium Disulfide for Anisotropic Nonvolatile Memory and Multiple Artificial Neuromorphic Synapses.

Two-dimensional materials are emerging as potential solutions for high-density nonvolatile memory and efficient neuromorphic computing. However, integrating multidimensional memory and an ideal linear weight updating synapse in a simple device configuration to achieve versatile biomimetic neuromorphic systems remains challenging. Here, we introduce a wrinkled rhenium disulfide (ReS2) transistor, where the wrinkled structure facilitates the carrier trapping/detrapping at the dielectric interface, thus enabling the fusion of nonvolatile memory and both electronic and optoelectronic synaptic functionalities. As a nonvolatile memory, anisotropic wrinkled ReS2 can yield three distinct sets of data across three crystal orientations under identical programming operations. Each set demonstrates exceptional retention and endurance properties. As a neuromorphic synapse, it realizes the linear and symmetric updates of conductance states up to 9 bits and 8 bits, the ultra-low-energy consumption of 75 fJ and 2.5 pJ under the electrical and optical stimuli, respectively. The artificial neural network (ANN) based on electronic synapses gives a superior recognition accuracy of 92.9% for the original handwritten digits. The anisotropic synaptic responses and multiwavelength sensitivities of optoelectronic synapses enable them to execute advanced memory and recognition functions for complex images that encompass a variety of pattern features or color information. This underscores its substantial potential for integration into efficient biomimetic visual systems.

A Giant Magneto-Superelasticity of 5% Enabled by Introducing Ordered Dislocations in Ni34Co8Cu8Mn36Ga14 Single Crystal.

Elasticity, featured by a recoverable strain, refers to the ability that materials can return to their original shapes after deformation. Typically, the elastic strains of most metals are well-known 0.2%. In shape memory alloys and high entropy alloys, the elastic strains can be several percent, as called superelasticity, which are all triggered by external stresses. A superelasticity induced by magnetic field, termed as magneto-superelasticity, is extremely important for contactless work of materials and for developing brand-new large stroke actuators and high efficiency energy transducers. In magnetic shape memory alloys, the twin boundary motion driven by magnetic field can output a strain of several percent. However, this strain is unrecoverable when removing the magnetic field and hence it is not magneto-superelasticity. Here, a giant magneto-superelasticity of 5% in a Ni34Co8Cu8Mn36Ga14 single crystal is reported by introducing arrays of ordered dislocations to form preferentially oriented martensitic variants during the magnetically induced reverse martensitic transformation. This work provides an opportunity to achieve high performance in functional materials by defect engineering.

An antiferromagnetic spin phase change memory.

The electrical outputs of single-layer antiferromagnetic memory devices relying on the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect are typically rather small at room temperature. Here we report a new type of antiferromagnetic memory based on the spin phase change in a Mn-Ir binary intermetallic thin film at a composition within the phase boundary between its collinear and noncollinear phases. Via a small piezoelectric strain, the spin structure of this composition-boundary metal is reversibly interconverted, leading to a large nonvolatile room-temperature resistance modulation that is two orders of magnitude greater than the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect for a metal, mimicking the well-established phase change memory from a quantum spin degree of freedom. In addition, this antiferromagnetic spin phase change memory exhibits remarkable time and temperature stabilities, and is robust in a magnetic field high up to 60 T.

Spontaneous Topological States and Their Mutual Transformations in a Rare-Earth Ferrimagnet.

Nontrivial chiral spin textures with nanometric sizes and novel characteristics (e.g., magnetic skyrmions) are promising for encoding information bits in future energy-efficient and high-density spintronic devices. Because of antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, skyrmions in ferrimagnetic materials exhibit many advantages in terms of size and efficient manipulation, which allow them to overcome the limitations of ferromagnetic skyrmions. Despite recent progress, ferrimagnetic skyrmions have been observed only in few films in the presence of external fields, while those in ferrimagnetic bulks remain elusive. This study reports on spontaneously generated zero-field ground-state magnetic skyrmions and their subsequent transformation into traditional magnetic bubbles via intermediate states of (bi-)target bubbles during a magnetic anisotropy change in the rare-earth ferrimagnetic crystal DyFe11 Ti. Spontaneous reversible topological transformation driven by a temperature-induced spin reorientation transition is directly distinguished using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. The spontaneous generation of magnetic skyrmions and successive topological transformations in ferrimagnetic DyFe11 Ti are expected to advance the design of topological spin textures with versatile properties and potential applications in rare-earth magnets.

Controllable Synthesis of 2H-1T' Mox Re(1- x ) S2 Lateral Heterostructures and Their Tunable Optoelectronic Properties.

Constructing heterostructures and doping are valid ways to improve the optoelectronic properties of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and optimize the performance of TMDs-based photodetectors. Compared with transfer techniques, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has higher efficiency in preparing heterostructures. As for the one-step CVD growth of heterostructures, cross-contamination between the two materials may occur during the growth process, which may provide the possibility of one-step simultaneous realization of controllable doping and formation of alloy-based heterostructures by finely tuning the growth dynamics. Here, 2H-1T' Mox Re(1- x ) S2 alloy-to-alloy lateral heterostructures are synthesized through this one-step CVD growth method, utilizing the cross-contamination and different growth temperatures of the two alloys. Due to the doping of a small amount of Re atoms in 2H MoS2 , 2H Mox Re(1- x ) S2 has a high response rejection ratio in the solar-blind ultraviolet (SBUV) region and exhibits a positive photoconductive (PPC) effect. While the 1T' Mox Re(1- x ) S2 formed by heavily doping Mo atoms into 1T' ReS2 will produce a negative photoconductivity (NPC) effect under UV laser irradiation. The optoelectronic property of 2H-1T' Mox Re(1- x ) S2 -based heterostructures can be modulated by gate voltage. These findings are expected to expand the functionality of traditional optoelectronic devices and have potential applications in optoelectronic logic devices.

Oriented exchange-coupled L10-FePt/Co core-shell nanoparticles with variable Co thickness.

Exchange-coupled core-shell nanoparticles are expected to be the new generation of permanent magnets, where the orientation of the hard magnetic phase is supposed to play a key role in improving their magnetic performance. In this work, L10-FePt/Co core-shell nanoparticles with Co thickness ranging from 0.6 to 2.2 nm have been synthesized by a seed-mediated growth method. The exchange coupling effect between the hard core and soft shell led to a 60% improvement of the maximum magnetic energy product ((BH)max), compared with the pure L10-FePt core. By tuning the amount of precursor, nanoparticles with different Co shell thicknesses were synthesized. Furthermore, the L10-FePt/Co core-shell nanoparticles were dispersed in epoxy resin and oriented under an external magnetic field. The (BH)max of the anisotropic nanocomposite magnet with a Co thickness of 1 nm is 7.1 MGOe, enhanced by 117% compared with the isotropic L10-FePt magnet, which paves the way for the development of high-performance permanent magnets for energy conversion applications.

Strain and Interference Synergistically Modulated Optical and Electrical Properties in ReS2/Graphene Heterojunction Bubbles.

Two-dimensional (2D) material bubbles, as a straightforward method to induce strain, represent a potentially powerful platform for the modulation of different properties of 2D materials and the exploration of their strain-related applications. Here, we prepare ReS2/graphene heterojunction bubbles (ReS2/gr heterobubbles) and investigate their strain and interference synergistically modulated optical and electrical properties. We perform Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectra to verify the continuously varying strain and the microcavity induced optical interference in ReS2/gr heterobubbles. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) is carried out to explore the photogenerated carrier transfer behavior in both strained ReS2/gr heterobubbles and ReS2/gr interfaces, as well as the oscillation of surface potential caused by optical interference under illumination conditions. Moreover, the switching of in-plane crystal orientation and the modulation of optical anisotropy of ReS2/gr heterobubbles are observed by azimuth-dependent reflectance difference microscopy (ADRDM), which can be attributed to the action of both strain effect and interference. Our study proves that the optical and electrical properties can be effectively modulated by the synergistical effect of strain and interference in a 2D material bubble.

Tuning the Exchange Bias Effect in 2D van der Waals Ferro-/Antiferromagnetic Fe3 GeTe2 /CrOCl Heterostructures.

The exchange bias effect is extremely expected in 2D van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnetic (FM)/antiferromagnetic (AFM) heterostructures due to the high-quality interface. CrOCl possesses strong magnetic anisotropy at 2D limit, and is an ideal antiferromagnet for constructing FM/AFM heterostructures to explore the exchange bias effect. Here, the exchange bias effect in Fe3 GeTe2 (FGT)/CrOCl heterostructures through both anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and reflective magnetic circular dichroism (RMCD) measurements is studied. In the AHE measurements, the exchange bias field (HEB ) at 3 K exhibits a distinct increase from ≈150 Oe to ≈450 Oe after air exposure, and such variation is attributed to the formation of an oxidized layer in FGT by analyzing the cross-sectional microstructure. The HEB is successfully tuned by changing the FGT/CrOCl thickness and the cooling field. Furthermore, a larger HEB of ≈750 Oe at 1.7 K in FGT/CrOCl heterostructure through RMCD measurements is observed, and it is proposed that the larger HEB in RMCD measurements is related to the distribution of uncompensated spins at the interface. This work reveals several intriguing phenomena of the exchange bias effect in 2D vdW magnetic systems, which paves the way for the study of related spintronic devices.

Antiferromagnetism in Ni-Based Superconductors.

Due to the lack of any magnetic order down to 1.7 K in the parent bulk compound NdNiO2 , the recently discovered 9-15 K superconductivity in the infinite-layer Nd0.8 Sr0.2 NiO2 thin films has provided an exciting playground for unearthing new superconductivity mechanisms. Herein, the successful synthesis of a series of superconducting Nd0.8 Sr0.2 NiO2 thin films ranging from 8 to 40 nm is reported. The large exchange bias effect is observed between the superconducting Nd0.8 Sr0.2 NiO2 films and a thin ferromagnetic layer, which suggests the existence of the antiferromagnetic order. Furthermore, the existence of the antiferromagnetic order is evidenced by X-ray magnetic linear dichroism measurements. These experimental results are fundamentally critical for the current field.

van der Waals Magnets: Material Family, Detection and Modulation of Magnetism, and Perspective in Spintronics.

van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibit great potential in spintronics, arising from their excellent spin transportation, large spin-orbit coupling, and high-quality interfaces. The recent discovery of intrinsic vdW antiferromagnets and ferromagnets has laid the foundation for the construction of all-vdW spintronic devices, and enables the study of low-dimensional magnetism, which is of both technical and scientific significance. In this review, several representative families of vdW magnets are introduced, followed by a comprehensive summary of the methods utilized in reading out the magnetic states of vdW magnets. Thereafter, it is shown that various electrical, mechanical, and chemical approaches are employed to modulate the magnetism of vdW magnets. Finally, the perspective of vdW magnets in spintronics is discussed and an outlook of future development direction in this field is also proposed.

Spontaneous Topological Magnetic Transitions in NdCo5 Rare-Earth Magnets.

Particle-like magnetic textures with nanometric sizes, such as skyrmions, are potentially suitable for designing high-efficiency information bits in future spintronics devices. In general, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and dipolar interactions are the dominant factors for generating nonlinear spin configurations. However, to stabilize the topological skyrmions, an external magnetic field is usually required. In this study, the spontaneous emergence of skyrmions is directly observed, together with the unique successive topological domain evolution during the spin reorientation transition in a neodymium-cobalt (NdCo5 ) rare-earth magnet. On decreasing the temperature, nanometric skyrmion lattices evolve into enclosed in-plane domains (EIPDs) similar to mini bar-magnets with size below 120 nm. The internal magnetization rotates with magnetic anisotropy, demonstrating the ability to manipulate the mini bar-magnets. The nanoscale EIPD lattices remain robust over the wide temperature range of 241-167 K, indicating the possibility of high-density in-plane magnetic information storage. The generation of spontaneous magnetic skyrmions and the successive domain transformation in the traditional NdCo5 rare-earth magnet may prompt application exploration for topological magnetic spin textures with novel physical mechanisms in versatile magnets.

Dispersible and manipulable magnetic L10-FePt nanoparticles.

Oriented single-domain magnetic nanoparticles with a high remanence ratio Mr/Ms and maximum magnetic energy product (BH)max have attracted immense attention. However, nanoparticles easily agglomerate due to their extremely small size, which impedes the process of orientation. So manipulating the orientation of nanoparticles is still a key challenge. Here, L10-FePt single-domain nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a chemical method in the liquid phase and nanoparticle-based anisotropic nanocomposites were obtained by dispersing the nanoparticles in liquid epoxy resin under an external magnetic field. The main factors that impact the orientation of L10-FePt single-domain nanoparticles were investigated further. It is found that the dispersibility of nanoparticles has a great impact on the degree of orientation, so do the applied magnetic field and the concentration of nanoparticles. Nanocomposites with homodisperse nanoparticles oriented under a suitable external magnetic field exhibit excellent magnetic performance, such as high coercivity Hc and remanence Mr, which gives the nanocomposites a higher (BH)max than the isotropic samples. The anisotropic nanocomposites show great potential in multifarious permanent magnet applications and fundamental research.

Giant Piezospintronic Effect in a Noncollinear Antiferromagnetic Metal.

One of the main bottleneck issues for room-temperature antiferromagnetic spintronic devices is the small signal read-out owing to the limited anisotropic magnetoresistance in antiferromagnets. However, this could be overcome by either utilizing the Berry-curvature-induced anomalous Hall resistance in noncollinear antiferromagnets or establishing tunnel-junction devices based on effective manipulation of antiferromagnetic spins. In this work, the giant piezoelectric strain modulation of the spin structure and the anomalous Hall resistance in a noncollinear antiferromagnetic metal-D019 hexagonal Mn3 Ga-is demonstrated. Furthermore, tunnel-junction devices are built with a diameter of 200 nm to amplify the maximum tunneling resistance ratio to more than 10% at room-temperature, which thus implies significant potential of noncollinear antiferromagnets for large signal-output and high-density antiferromagnetic spintronic device applications.

Electric-Field-Controlled Antiferromagnetic Spintronic Devices.

In recent years, the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics has been substantially advanced. Electric-field control is a promising approach for achieving ultralow power spintronic devices via suppressing Joule heating. Here, cutting-edge research, including electric-field modulation of antiferromagnetic spintronic devices using strain, ionic liquids, dielectric materials, and electrochemical ionic migration, is comprehensively reviewed. Various emergent topics such as the Néel spin-orbit torque, chiral spintronics, topological antiferromagnetic spintronics, anisotropic magnetoresistance, memory devices, 2D magnetism, and magneto-ionic modulation with respect to antiferromagnets are examined. In conclusion, the possibility of realizing high-quality room-temperature antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions, antiferromagnetic spin logic devices, and artificial antiferromagnetic neurons is highlighted. It is expected that this work provides an appropriate and forward-looking perspective that will promote the rapid development of this field.

Dispersible SmCo5 nanoparticles with huge coercivity.

It is difficult to obtain dispersed particles of SmCo5 by calciothermic reduction because of sintering during the high-temperature reaction. This study presents a new strategy to synthesize dispersible SmCo5 particles by co-precipitating a precursor containing amorphous Sm(OH)3 and coherent nanoscale Co(OH)2 and Ca(OH)2 crystallites. The Ca(OH)2 dehydrates into CaO which forms an isolation shell around the SmCo5 particles that prevents them sintering during the reaction at 860 °C. A magnetization of 90 Am2 kg-1, a remanence ratio of 0.96 and a huge coercivity of 6.6-7.2 T were achieved at room temperature after dissolving the CaO and orienting a dispersion of the particles in epoxy in a 0.8 T external field. Based on its scan-rate dependence in high quasi-static and pulsed magnetic fields, the coercivity mechanism is identified as nucleation and growth of 88 nm3 nucleation volumes in a low-anisotropy surface region about 15 nm thick. The coercivity is the highest yet reported for nanoparticles of any permanent magnet and it opens the prospect of new high-temperature magnet composites.

Highly Sensitive Polarization Photodetection Using a Pseudo-One-Dimensional Nb(1- x)Ti xS3 Alloy.

Low-symmetry layered two-dimensional (2D) materials with strong in-plane optical anisotropy can potentially be applied for polarization photodetection. This is especially true for those 2D materials with a direct band gap, which can efficiently absorb light with specific axial polarization. However, discovering such new anisotropic 2D materials with a direct band structure is still extremely challenging. Here, we fabricate a photodetector using a pseudo-one-dimensional (pseudo-1D) Nb(1- x)Ti xS3 alloy device and demonstrate that it is highly sensitive to the polarized light because of the strong in-plane optical anisotropy and direct band gap of the alloy by combining angle-resolved polarization Raman spectroscopy, azimuth-dependent reflectance difference microscopy, polarization-dependent absorption spectroscopy, and hybrid functional theory calculations. As a consequence, the polarization photodetector of the Nb(1- x)Ti xS3 alloy shows a large photocurrent anisotropic ratio and a high photoresponse. The choice of a low-symmetry layered pseudo-1D Nb(1- x)Ti xS3 alloy in polarization photodetection might open up new functionalities for novel optoelectronic device applications.