Noncollinear Edge Magnetism in Nanoribbons of Fe₃GeTe₂ and Fe₃GaTe₂

Fe₃GeTe₂ and Fe₃GaTe₂ are ferromagnetic conducting materials of van der Waals type with unique magnetic properties that are highly promising for the development of new spintronic, orbitronic, and magnonic devices. Even in the form of two-dimensional-like ultrathin films, they exhibit a relatively high Curie temperature, magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the atomic planes, and multiple types of Hall effects. We explore nanoribbons made from single layers of these materials and show that they display noncollinear magnetic ordering at their edges. This magnetic inhomogeneity allows angular momentum currents to generate magnetic torques at the sample edges, regardless of their polarization direction, significantly enhancing the effectiveness of magnetization manipulation in these systems. We also demonstrate that it is possible to rapidly reverse the magnetization direction of these nanostructures by means of spin-orbit and spin-transfer torques with rather low current densities, making them quite propitious for nonvolatile magnetic memory units.