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Updated: Nov 30, 2025

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
Pressure-driven switching of magnetism in layered CrCl3
Azkar Saeed Ahmad1, Yongcheng Liang, Mingdong Dong
1Department of Physics and Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Frontier Materials Synthesis at High Pressure, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China. wangsm@sustech.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Layered transition-metal compounds with controllable magnetic behaviors provide many fascinating opportunities for the fabrication of high-performance magneto-electric and spintronic devices. The tuning of their electronic and magnetic properties is usually limited to the change of layer thickness, electrostatic doping, and the control of electric and magnetic fields. However, pressure has been rarely exploited as a control parameter for tailoring their magneto-electric properties. Here, we report a unique pressure-driven isostructural phase transition in layered CrCl3 accompanied by a simultaneous switching of magnetism from a ferromagnetic to an antiferromagnetic ordering. Our experiments, in combination with ab initio calculations, demonstrate that such a magnetic transition hinders the bandgap collapse under pressure, leading to an anomalous semiconductor-to-semiconductor transition. Our findings not only reveal the potential applications of this material in electronic and spintronic devices but also establish the basis for exploring unusual phase transitions in layered transition-metal compounds.
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