Strain-controlled magnetic and electric polarized states in two-dimensional magnetic Janus semiconductor [article]

Zhen Zhang, Jing-Yang You, Bo Gu, Gang Su
2020 arXiv   pre-print
Two-dimensional (2D) Janus semiconductors with mirror asymmetry can introduce novel properties, such as large spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and normal piezoelectric polarization, which have attracted a great interest for their potential applications. Inspired by the recently fabricated 2D ferromagnetic (FM) semiconductor CrI3, the 2D Janus materials M2Cl3I3 (M=3d transition metals) are studied by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A stable 2D (in x-y plane) antiferromagnetic (AFM)
more » ... us semiconductor Fe2Cl3I3 with normal magnetization (m//z) of sublattice is obtained. By applying tensile strain up to about 15%, the following four magnetic states sequentially occur: AFM with m//z of sublattice, AFM with m//xy of sublattice, FM with m//xy, and FM with m//z. Such novel magnetic phase diagram driven by strain can be well understood by a Heisenberg Hamiltonian with the single-ion anisotropy term, where the SOC of I atoms is found to play an essential role. In addition, the electric polarization of Fe2Cl3I3 preserves with strain due to the broken inversion symmetry. Our results predict the Janus material Fe2Cl3I3 as a rare example of 2D semiconductors with both spin and charge polarizations, and reveal the highly sensitive strain-controlled magnetic states and magnetization direction, which highlights the 2D magnetic Janus semiconductor as a new platform to design spintronic materials.
arXiv:2001.02842v1 fatcat:o5taqvqd4naebjrbp5kn2oyehe