Nonvolatile Manipulation of Topological Spin Textures in 2D Spin Frustrated Multiferroic Heterostructures

Abstract

Electrical manipulation of topological spin textures is essential for advancing spintronic applications. 2D van der Waals multiferroic heterostructures, for example, LaX₂ (X = Cl, Br, I)/In₂Y₃ (Y = S, Se, Te), owing to their magnetoelectric coupling, hold great promise for the development of low-power spintronic devices. Using first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations, this study have discovered that in the LaCl₂/In₂S₃, LaBr₂/In₂Se₃, and LaCl₂/In₂Se₃ heterostructures, the ferroelectric (FE) polarization reversal is able to manipulate the magnetic frustration in the ferromagnetic (FM) monolayer, thus allowing the creation and annihilation of nontrivial topological spin textures. In particular, in the LaI₂/In₂Te₃ heterostructure, the FE polarization reversal can alter the bimeron morphology. A semiconductor-to-half-metal transition has also been observed in the FM monolayer, mainly due to interfacial charge transfer, making electrical-current-driven motion possible. The dynamics of bimeron clusters has been thus investigated in the half-metal under 100% spin-polarized electrical current and the behavior of skyrmions with large topological numbers under magnetic fields. These results indicate that the electrically-tunable topological spin textures in multiferroic heterostructures have potential applications in low-power and nonvolatile information technologies.