Programmable Magnetic Hysteresis in Orthogonally-Twisted 2D CrSBr Magnets via Stacking Engineering

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Spintronics

Background:

• Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals magnets enable the engineering of exotic spin textures like skyrmions and magnetic domains through twisting.
• The spin reversal processes in these heterostructures can be further manipulated by altering the number of magnetic layers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how varying twist angles and layer configurations in CrSBr heterostructures influence magnetic properties and spin-switching behaviors.
• To explore the potential for controlling magnetic hysteresis and realizing novel spin textures for spintronic applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of symmetric (monolayer/monolayer, bilayer/bilayer) and asymmetric (monolayer/bilayer) CrSBr heterostructures with 90-degree twists.
• Characterization of magneto-transport properties to analyze magnetic hysteresis.
• Micromagnetic simulations to rationalize observed spin-switching processes.

Main Results:

• Magnetic hysteresis was observed and found to be highly dependent on the applied magnetic field's magnitude and direction.
• Both twist angle and the number of layers significantly determined the magnetic reversal characteristics.
• Tunable switching between volatile and non-volatile magnetic memory at zero-field was achieved.
• On-demand control over abrupt magnetic reversal processes at specific field values (positive or negative) was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• The combination of twist angle and layer number is a key factor in engineering spin-switching reversals in twisted magnets.
• This tunability is promising for the miniaturization of spintronic devices and the creation of novel spin textures.
• The findings provide a pathway for designing advanced magnetic memory and logic devices.