Electric field-tunable ferromagnetism in a van der Waals semiconductor up to room temperature

Deyi Fu, Jiawei Liu, Fuchen Hou, Xiao Chang, Tingyu Qu (), Johan Félisaz, Gunasheel Kauwtilyaa Krishnaswamy, Sergey Grebenchuk, Yuang Jie, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Vitor M. Pereira, Kostya S. Novoselov, Maciej Koperski, Nikolai L. Yakovlev, Anjan Soumyanarayanan, Ahmet Avsar, Oleg V. Yazyev, Junhao Lin () and Barbaros Özyilmaz ()
Additional contact information
Deyi Fu: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Jiawei Liu: National University of Singapore, Centre for Advanced 2D Materials
Fuchen Hou: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Department of Physics, State key laboratory of quantum functional materials, and Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Quantum Science
Xiao Chang: National University of Singapore, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Tingyu Qu: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Johan Félisaz: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Physics
Gunasheel Kauwtilyaa Krishnaswamy: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Sergey Grebenchuk: National University of Singapore, Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (I-FIM)
Yuang Jie: National University of Singapore, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Kenji Watanabe: Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki
Takashi Taniguchi: Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki
Vitor M. Pereira: Universidade do Porto, Centro de Fisica das Universidades do Minho e do Porto, LaPMET, Departamento de Fisica e Astronomia, Faculdade de Ciências
Kostya S. Novoselov: National University of Singapore, Centre for Advanced 2D Materials
Maciej Koperski: National University of Singapore, Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (I-FIM)
Nikolai L. Yakovlev: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Anjan Soumyanarayanan: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Ahmet Avsar: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics
Oleg V. Yazyev: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Physics
Junhao Lin: Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Department of Physics, State key laboratory of quantum functional materials, and Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Quantum Science
Barbaros Özyilmaz: National University of Singapore, Department of Physics

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Ferromagnetic semiconductors, coupling charge transport and magnetism via electrical means, show great promise for spin-based logic devices. Despite decades of efforts to achieve such co-functionality, maintaining ferromagnetic order at room temperature remains elusive. Here, we address this long-standing challenge by implanting dilute Co atoms into few-layer black phosphorus through atomically-thin boron nitride diffusion barrier. Our Co-doped black phosphorus-based devices exhibit ferromagnetism up to room temperature while preserving its high mobility (~ $${1000{{{\rm{cm}}}}}^{2}{{{{\rm{V}}}}}^{-1}{{{{\rm{s}}}}}^{-1}$$ 1000 cm 2 V − 1 s − 1 ) and semiconducting characteristics. By incorporating ferromagnetic Co-doped black phosphorus into magnetic tunnel junction devices, we demonstrate a large tunnelling magnetoresistance that extends up to room temperature. This study presents a new approach to engineering ferromagnetic ordering in otherwise nonmagnetic materials, thereby expanding the repertoire and applications of magnetic semiconductors envisioned thus far.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59961-2

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