Strain-Control Magnetic Anisotropy of Antiferromagnetism in Two-Dimensional MXene V2C(OH)2

Abstract

Using antiferromagnetic order states to store information is desirable due to the high rate of data writing, large density of storage, and high anti-interference capability. Tuning magnetic anisotropy is required for data writing with a low energy consumption. In this work, we investigated the control of magnetism of antiferromagnetic two-dimensional MXene V₂C(OH)₂ based on density functional theory. We find that the magnetic anisotropy in V₂C(OH)₂ can be regulated by applying both in-plane tensile and vertical compression strain. With applying strain, the energy band gap can also be obviously varied. By the density of states and orbital-resolved magnetic anisotropy, we confirm that the strain-inducing changes of the distribution of the d_z² orbital states near the Fermi level, which form magnetic anisotropy with the d_xz orbital by the spin–orbital coupling, have significant effects on the control of magnetic anisotropy. The results of this study show that the two-dimensional MXene material V₂C(OH)₂ with strain-tunable antiferromagnetism will have potential application in spintronics devices.