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Optical switching of a moiré Chern ferromagnet
Xiangbin Cai1,2, Haiyang Pan1,2, Yuzhu Wang2
1School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Nature
|January 28, 2026
Summary
Researchers demonstrated optical switching of Chern ferromagnets in twisted MoTe2 bilayers using circularly polarized light. This breakthrough enables efficient control of quantum material properties for future spintronic devices.
Area of Science:
- Quantum Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Optical control offers non-contact, high-precision manipulation of quantum material properties.
- Fractional Chern ferromagnets in moiré superlattices are promising for topological quantum computing.
- Effective optical control protocols for these states remain elusive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate robust optical switching of integer and fractional Chern ferromagnets.
- To investigate efficient optical manipulation of spin orientations in topological ferromagnets.
- To establish a reliable optical control scheme for moiré Chern ferromagnets.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing continuous-wave circularly polarized light for optical switching.
- Employing twisted molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) bilayers as the quantum material platform.
- Investigating optical control at low pump light power (28 nW μm⁻²).
Main Results:
- Achieved robust optical switching of integer and fractional Chern ferromagnets.
- Demonstrated highly efficient optical manipulation of spin orientations at zero field.
- Showcased magnetic bistate cycling and spatially resolved writing of ferromagnetic domain walls.
Conclusions:
- Established a reliable and efficient optical control scheme for moiré Chern ferromagnets.
- Paved the way for dissipationless spintronics and quantized Chern junction devices.
- Highlighted the potential of optical control in advancing topological quantum computing.
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