Robust Second-Order Topological Insulators with Giant Valley Polarization in Two-Dimensional Honeycomb Ferromagnets

Magnetic topological states have attracted great attention that provide exciting platforms for exploring prominent physical phenomena and applications of topological spintronics. Here, using a tight-binding model and first-principles calculations, we put forward that, in contrast to previously reported magnetic second-order topological insulators (SOTIs), robust SOTIs can emerge in two-dimensional ferromagnets regardless of magnetization directions. Remarkably, we identify intrinsic ferromagnetic 2H-RuCl₂ and Janus VSSe monolayers as experimentally feasible candidates of predicted robust SOTIs with the emergence of nontrivial corner states along different magnetization directions. Moreover, under out-of-plane magnetization, we unexpectedly point out that the valley polarization of SOTIs can be huge and much larger than that of the known ferrovalley materials, opening up a technological avenue to bridge the valleytronics and higher-order topology with high possibility of innovative applications in topological spintronics and valleytronics.