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

ABSTRACT

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.