Electric-field switching of interlayer magnetic order in a van der waals heterobilayer via spin-electric potential

Chengxi Huang, Jinzhe Han, Jing Wang, Jintao Jiang, Ziyang Qu, Fang Wu, Ang Li, Yi Wan, Kaiyou Wang () and Erjun Kan ()
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Chengxi Huang: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Jinzhe Han: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Jing Wang: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Jintao Jiang: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Ziyang Qu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Fang Wu: Nanjing Forestry University, College of Information Science and Technology
Ang Li: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Yi Wan: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing
Kaiyou Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors
Erjun Kan: Nanjing University of Science and Technology, MIIT Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Microstructure and Quantum Sensing

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Electric-field control of magnetic order is of significant physical interest and holds great potential for spintronic applications. However, it has rarely been reported in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnets, primarily due to the inherently weak coupling between spin order and electric fields. Here we propose a general spin-electric potential mechanism that significantly enhances the magnetoelectric coupling. The spin-electric potential refers to the spin-order-dependent electric dipole potential energy originating from the polar spin interactions in asymmetric magnetic systems. Due to the additional spin-electric potential, the relative stability of different interlayer spin orders in a vdW heterobilayer can be significantly manipulated by external electric fields. Based on this mechanism, we design a series of 2D vdW all-magnetic heterobilayers, such as CrI3/MnSe2, in which a transition from interlayer spin-parallel (SP) to spin-antiparallel (SAP) order is realized by a feasible electric field of around 0.1 V/Å. Our findings not only reveal a novel magnetoelectric coupling mechanism, but also present a practical strategy for achieving pure electric field switching of magnetic order.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65371-1

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