Intrinsic piezoelectric ferromagnetism with large out-of-plane piezoelectric response in Janus monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$

TL;DR

This paper predicts a new Janus monolayer $ ext{CrBr}_{1.5} ext{I}_{1.5}$ that exhibits intrinsic ferromagnetism and large out-of-plane piezoelectric response, with potential for ultrathin piezoelectric devices and strain-tunable magnetic phases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 2D Janus monolayer with combined piezoelectricity and ferromagnetism, and demonstrates its large out-of-plane piezoelectric response and strain-tunable magnetic phase transition.

Findings

Monolayer $ ext{CrBr}_{1.5} ext{I}_{1.5}$ is an intrinsic FM half semiconductor.

Out-of-plane piezoelectric coefficient $d_{31}$ reaches 1.138 pm/V, higher than other 2D materials.

Strain can induce a transition from FM to AFM order, enabling piezoelectric antiferromagnetism.

Abstract

A two-dimensional (2D) material system with both piezoelectricity and ferromagnetic (FM) order, referred to as a 2D piezoelectric ferromagnetism (PFM), may open up unprecedented opportunities for intriguing physics. Inspired by experimentally synthesized Janus monolayer MoSSe from $\mathrm{MoS_2}$, in this work, the Janus monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$ with dynamic, mechanical and thermal stabilities is predicted, which is constructed from synthesized ferromagnetic $\mathrm{CrI_3}$ monolayer by replacing the top I atomic layer with Br atoms. Calculated results show that monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$ is an intrinsic FM half semiconductor with valence and conduction bands being fully spin-polarized in the same spin direction. Furthermore, monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$ possesses a sizable magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE). By symmetry analysis, it is found that both in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric polarizations can be induced by a uniaxial strain in the basal plane. The calculated in-plane $d_{22}$ value of 0.557 pm/V is small. However, more excitingly, the out-of-plane $d_{31}$ is as high as 1.138 pm/V, which is obviously higher compared with ones of other 2D known materials. The strong out of-plane piezoelectricity is highly desirable for ultrathin piezoelectric devices. Moreover, strain engineering is used to tune piezoelectricity of monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$. It is found that compressive strain can improve the $d_{22}$, and tensile strain can enhance the $d_{31}$. A FM order to antiferromagnetic (AFM) order phase transition can be induced by compressive strain, and the critical point is about 0.95 strain. That is to say that a 2D piezoelectric antiferromagnetism (PAFM) can be achieved by compressive strain, and the corresponding $d_{22}$ and $d_{31}$ are 0.677 pm/V and 0.999 pm/V at 0.94 strain, respectively.