Ferroelectric control of magnetic skyrmions in two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions are chiral nanoscale spin textures which are usually induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). Recently, magnetic skyrmions have been observed in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnetic materials, such as Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$. The electric control of skyrmions is important for their potential application in low-power memory technologies. Here, we predict that DMI and magnetic skyrmions in a Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$ monolayer can be controlled by ferroelectric polarization of an adjacent 2D vdW ferroelectric In${}_2$Se${}_3$. Based on density functional theory and atomistic spin-dynamics modeling, we find that the interfacial symmetry breaking produces a sizable DMI in a Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$/In${}_2$Se${}_3$ vdW heterostructure. We show that the magnitude of DMI can be controlled by ferroe-lectric polarization reversal, leading to creation and annihilation of skyrmions. Furthermore, we find that the sign of DMI in a In${}_2$Se${}_3$/Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$/In${}_2$Se${}_3$ heterostructure changes with ferroelectric switching reversing the skyrmion chirality. The predicted electrically controlled skyrmion formation may be interesting for spintronic applications.

References in corpus (28)

• Discovery of intrinsic ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals crystals
• Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet
• Gate-tunable Room-temperature Ferromagnetism in Two-dimensional Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$
• Advances in the Physics of Magnetic Skyrmions and Perspective for Technology
• Spontaneous Skyrmion Ground States in Magnetic Metals
• Magnetic 2D materials and heterostructures
• Observation of room temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin Co films
• Two-Dimensional Itinerant Ising Ferromagnetism in Atomically thin Fe3GeTe2
• Room temperature chiral magnetic skyrmion in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures
• Stacking-engineered ferroelectricity in bilayer boron nitride
• Out-of-plane Piezoelectricity and Ferroelectricity in Layered $\alpha$-In2Se3 Nano-flakes
• Interfacial Ferroelectricity by van-der-Waals Sliding
• Anatomy of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction at Co/Pt Interfaces
• Beyond skyrmions: Review and perspectives of alternative magnetic quasiparticles
• Hard magnetic properties in nanoflake van der Waals Fe3GeTe2
• A theory on skyrmion size and profile
• Electric field driven switching of individual magnetic skyrmions
• Observation of Magnetic Skyrmion Bubbles in a van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2
• Néel-type skyrmion in WTe2/Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals heterostructure
• Large voltage tuning of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction: a route towards dynamic control of skyrmion chirality
• Controlling Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction via Chirality Dependent Layer Stacking, Insulator Capping and Electric Field
• Real-space observation of short-period cubic lattice of skyrmions in MnGe
• Néel-type skyrmions and their current-induced motion in van der Waals ferromagnet-based heterostructures
• Experimental creation and annihilation of nonvolatile magnetic skyrmions using voltage control of magnetic anisotropy without an external magnetic field
• Electrically switchable Rashba-type Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and skyrmion in two-dimensional magnetoelectric multiferroics
• Writing and deleting skyrmions with electric fields in a multiferroic heterostructure
• Elusive Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$ monolayer
• Interfacial crystal Hall effect reversible by ferroelectric polarization

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Laser-induced topological spin switching in a 2D van der Waals magnet
• Strain-Driven Zero-Field Near-10 nm Skyrmions in Two-Dimensional van der Waals Heterostructures
• Switching intrinsic magnetic skyrmions with controllable magnetic anisotropy in van der Waals multiferroic heterostructures
• Tuning the magnetic interactions in van der Waals Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$ heterostructures: A comparative study of \textit{ab initio} methods
• Magnonic Hall Effect and Magnonic Holography of Hopfions
• Magnetic Antiskyrmions in Two-Dimensional van der Waals Magnets Engineered by Layer Stacking
• Recent Advances in Unconventional Ferroelectrics and Multiferroics
• Strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in Monolayer CrI${}_3$ on Metal Substrates
• Modulation of skyrmionic magnetic textures in two-dimensional vdW materials and their heterostructures
• Enhanced magnetoelectric coupling in two-dimensional hybrid multiferroic heterostructures
• Electric-field-induced formation and annihilation of skyrmions in two-dimensional magnet
• Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction torques and domain wall dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures
• Movable Dirac Points with Ferroelectrics: Kink States and Berry Curvature Dipoles
• Magnetic Moiré Systems: a review
• Moiré spintronics: Emergent phenomena, material realization and machine learning accelerating discovery
• Design of 2D Skyrmionic Metamaterial Through Controlled Assembly
• A new skyrmion topological transition driven by higher-order exchange interactions in Janus MnSeTe
• Many-body description of two-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectric $\alpha -$In${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Topological Hall Effect Induced by Chiral Spin Textures at the Ferroelectric/Ferromagnetic Interface