Spin-valley switch and conductance oscillations in antiferromagnetic transition metal dichalcogenides

Abstract

Antiferromagnetic materials are regarded as the outstanding candidates for the next generation of spintronics applications thanks to the numerous interesting features. We theoretically study the spin and valley transport in transition metal dichalcogenides in the present of antiferromagnetic exchange field. It is found that the spin and valley dependent band gap can be controlled by the exchange field. The system could become a spin-valley half metal, where a certain spin-valley electron is metallic state and other electrons are insulating states. The normal/antiferromagnetic/normal junction could work as an effective spin-valley switch controlled by the gate voltage. In the normal/antiferromagnetic/normal/ferromagnetic/normal junction, quantum beats occur in the oscillations of total conductance. The beat phenomenon results from the interference of two different spin-valley dependent conductances with similar frequencies. In addition, the junction can also work as a magnetoresistance device.