The discovery of intrinsic 2D ferromagnets provides exciting possibilities for spintronics applications. A particularly attractive example is CrI3, whose monolayer is ferromagnetic while bilayer shows antiferromagneti...The discovery of intrinsic 2D ferromagnets provides exciting possibilities for spintronics applications. A particularly attractive example is CrI3, whose monolayer is ferromagnetic while bilayer shows antiferromagnetic coupling. Because of weak interlayer coupling, the magnetism of bilayer CrI3 can be easily modulated by external perturbations, such as gating or pressure. Here, we constructed a magnetic phase diagram of bilayer CrI3 under arbitrary biaxial strain(within ±4%) from compression to stretch,and found that compressive strain can effectively convert the antiferromagnetic coupling of bilayer CrI3 to ferromagnetic.Detailed analyses on electronic structure were then performed to unravel the underlying mechanism of the magnetic phase transition. It was shown that both band gap and orbital composition at conduction band minimum play important roles in determining magnetic ground states of strained bilayer CrI3. These results strengthen our understanding of the interlayer magnetism of 2D magnets and provide a feasible way to modulate the magnetism in 2D layered materials.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFB0701600)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11974197+4 种基金51920105002)Shenzhen Basic Research Projects (Grant No. JCYJ20170407155608882)Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program(Grant No. 2017ZT07C341)the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Shenzhen for the 2017 Graphene Manufacturing Innovation Center Project (Grant No. 201901171523)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018M631458)。
文摘The discovery of intrinsic 2D ferromagnets provides exciting possibilities for spintronics applications. A particularly attractive example is CrI3, whose monolayer is ferromagnetic while bilayer shows antiferromagnetic coupling. Because of weak interlayer coupling, the magnetism of bilayer CrI3 can be easily modulated by external perturbations, such as gating or pressure. Here, we constructed a magnetic phase diagram of bilayer CrI3 under arbitrary biaxial strain(within ±4%) from compression to stretch,and found that compressive strain can effectively convert the antiferromagnetic coupling of bilayer CrI3 to ferromagnetic.Detailed analyses on electronic structure were then performed to unravel the underlying mechanism of the magnetic phase transition. It was shown that both band gap and orbital composition at conduction band minimum play important roles in determining magnetic ground states of strained bilayer CrI3. These results strengthen our understanding of the interlayer magnetism of 2D magnets and provide a feasible way to modulate the magnetism in 2D layered materials.