Layer-Dependent Interlayer Antiferromagnetic Spin Reorientation in Air-Stable Semiconductor CrSBr.

Abstract

Magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials possess versatile spin configurations stabilized in reduced dimensions. One magnetic order is the interlayer antiferromagnetism in A-type vdW antiferromagnet, which may be effectively modified by the magnetic field, stacking order, and thickness scaling. However, atomically revealing the interlayer spin orientation in the vdW antiferromagnet is highly challenging, because most of the material candidates exhibit an insulating ground state or instability in ambient conditions. Here, we report the layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic spin reorientation in air-stable semiconductor CrSBr using magnetotransport characterization and first-principles calculations. We reveal an odd-even layer effect of interlayer spin reorientation, which originates from the competitions among interlayer exchange, magnetic anisotropy energy, and extra Zeeman energy of uncompensated magnetization. Furthermore, we quantitatively constructed the layer-dependent magnetic phase diagram with the help of a linear-chain model. Our work uncovers the layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic spin reorientation engineered by magnetic field in the air-stable semiconductor.