Gate-controllable magneto-optic Kerr effect in layered collinear antiferromagnets

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in layered collinear antiferromagnets, magneto-optic Kerr effects can be electrically controlled via gate-induced symmetry breaking, enabling reversible manipulation of optical properties without altering magnetic order.

Contribution

It introduces a method to electrically manipulate magneto-optic effects in antiferromagnets by controlling crystal symmetries through gating, supported by theoretical and first-principles calculations.

Findings

Gate voltage can switch the Kerr rotation direction.

Symmetry breaking enables controllable magneto-optic effects.

First-principles calculations confirm the effect in MnPSe3.

Abstract

Using symmetry arguments and a tight-binding model, we show that for layered collinear anti- ferromagnets, magneto-optic effects can be generated and manipulated by controlling crystal symmetries through a gate voltage. This provides a promising route for electric field manipulation of the magneto-optic effects without modifying the underlying magnetic structure. We further demonstrate the gate control of magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) in bilayer MnPSe3 using first-principles calculations. The field-induced inversion symmetry breaking effect leads to gate-controllable MOKE whose direction of rotation can be switched by the reversal of the gate voltage.