Ferroelectrically controlled topological magnetic phase in a Janus-magnet-based multiferroic heterostructure

Abstract

Electric control of topological magnetic phases has attracted extensive attention due to its potential applications in energy-efficient spintronic devices. Here, using first-principles calculations and atomistic spin model simulations, we demonstrate that electric control of topological magnetic phases can be realized in Janus-magnet-based multiferroic heterostructure, i.e., ${\mathrm{MnBi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}$/${\mathrm{In}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$. The loops of vortices and antivortices can be transformed into skyrmions with diameter of only 4 nm via ferroelectricity reversal, which is originated from the change of magnetic anisotropy. For heterostructure with up polarization, loops of vortices and antivortices are further tuned to bimeron solitons by applying in-plane magnetic field. Our results thus pave the way for achieving highly tunable topological magnetism in atomic-thickness heterostructure, which can be useful in nonvolatile data encoding and storage with low-energy consumption.