All-electrical layer-spintronics in altermagnetic bilayers

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Spintronics

Background:

• Electrical control of spin-polarized current is crucial for spintronic devices.
• Achieving this control efficiently and compactly remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate an all-electrical manipulation scheme for spin-polarized current.
• To introduce the concept of layer-spintronics using altermagnetic bilayers.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing first-principles calculations to investigate a CrS bilayer system.
• Exploring the layer-spin locking mechanism enabled by an out-of-plane electric field.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated gate-tunable spin-polarized current with full polarization reversal via electric field polarity.
• Achieved sign-reversible spin polarization up to 87% at room temperature.
• Identified a hidden layer-spin locking mechanism in a C-type antiferromagnetic CrS bilayer.

Conclusions:

• The proposed layer-spintronics concept offers efficient electrical control of spin.
• This approach synergizes altermagnetism and bilayer stacking for advanced spintronic applications.
• The findings pave the way for ultracompact spintronic devices with electrical spin manipulation.