Exchange Bias Effect in Ferro-/Antiferromagnetic van der Waals Heterostructures

Pawan Kumar Srivastava, Yasir Hassan, Hyobin Ahn, Byunggil Kang, Soon Gil Jung, Yisehak Gebredingle, Minwoong Joe, Muhammad Sabbtain Abbas, Tuson Park, Je Geun Park, Kyoung Jin Lee, Changgu Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The recent discovery of magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials provides a platform to answer fundamental questions on the two-dimensional (2D) limit of magnetic phenomena and applications. An important question in magnetism is the ultimate limit of the antiferromagnetic layer thickness in ferromagnetic (FM)/antiferromagnetic (AFM) heterostructures to observe the exchange bias (EB) effect, of which origin has been subject to a long-standing debate. Here, we report that the EB effect is maintained down to the atomic bilayer of AFM in the FM (Fe3GeTe2)/AFM (CrPS4) vdW heterostructure, but it vanishes at the single-layer limit. Given that CrPS4 is of A-type AFM and, thus, the bilayer is the smallest unit to form an AFM, this result clearly demonstrates the 2D limit of EB; only one unit of AFM ordering is sufficient for a finite EB effect. Moreover, the semiconducting property of AFM CrPS4 allows us to electrically control the exchange bias, providing an energy-efficient knob for spintronic devices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3978-3985
Number of pages8
JournalNano Letters
Volume20
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020 May 13

Keywords

  • FM/AFM heterostructures
  • electric field effect
  • exchange bias effect
  • magnetic anisotropy
  • magnetic ordering
  • van der Waals magnets

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • Chemistry(all)
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering

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