Tunable Magnetic Anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in an Ultrathin van der Waals Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 Heterostructure

Dong Chen,Wei Sun,Hang Li,Jianli Wang,Yuanxu Wang

doi:10.3389/fphy.2020.587419

Abstract

The promise of future spintronic devices with nanoscale dimension, high-density and low-energy consumption motivates the search for van der Waals heterostructure that stabilize topologically protected whirling spin textures such as magnetic skyrmions and domain walls. To translate these compelling features into practical devices, a key challenge lies in achieving effective manipulation of the magnetic anisotropy energy and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, the two key parameters that determine skyrmions. Through the first-principles calculation, we demonstrate that the polarization-induced broken inversion symmetry in the two-dimensional Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 multiferroic heterostructure does cause an interfacial DM interaction. The strong spin-orbit coupling triggers the magnetic anisotropy of the Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 heterostructure. The magnetic anisotropy and the DM interaction in Fe3GeTe2 can be well controlled by the ferroelectric polarization of In2Se3. This work paves the way towards the spintronic devices based on van der Waals heterostructures.

Highlights

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials have many novel properties compared to their three-dimensional (3D) counterparts, such as topology, spin frustration, and magnetic skyrmion [1]
Huang et al [29] have investigated the effect of asymmetric interfacial coupling on the FE stability of 2D Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 HS through the first-principles calculation, but some important physical properties such as the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and DM interaction are not included in their work
We study the DM interaction and magnetic anisotropy manipulated by a ferroelectric polarization in a truly 2D form

Summary

Introduction

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials have many novel properties compared to their three-dimensional (3D) counterparts, such as topology, spin frustration, and magnetic skyrmion [1]. Huang et al [29] have investigated the effect of asymmetric interfacial coupling on the FE stability of 2D Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 HS through the first-principles calculation, but some important physical properties such as the MAE and DM interaction are not included in their work. We have first demonstrated the reversible control the DM interaction and MAE by the FE polarization in the Fe3GeTe2/In2Se3 HS, as well as its underlying mechanisms.

Results

Conclusion