Magnetic domain wall dynamics under external electric field in bilayer CrI$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates how external electric fields influence magnetic domain structures in bilayer CrI$_3$, revealing stacking-dependent magnetic textures and potential for spintronic data storage applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a detailed microscopic model and simulations showing electric field control of magnetic domains in bilayer CrI$_3$, highlighting the HT phase's suitability for spintronic devices.

Findings

Magnetic textures depend on stacking order.

Stable magnetic domains can be controlled by electric fields.

High-temperature phase is promising for data storage.

Abstract

Motivated by manipulating the magnetic order of bilayer CrI$_3$, we carry out microscopic calculations to find the magnetic order and various magnetic domains of the system in the presence of an electric field. Making use of density functional simulations, a spin model Hamiltonian is introduced consisting of isotropic exchange couplings, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, and on-site magnetic anisotropy. The spin dynamics of two well-known states of bilayer CrI$_3$, low temperature (LT) and high temperature (HT) phases, are obtained by solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. We show that the magnetic texture is stacking-dependent in bilayer CrI$_3$ and stable magnetic domains can appear in the HT stack which are tunable by external electric and magnetic fields. Therefore, we suggest that the HT phase represents a promising candidate for data storage in the modern generation of spintronic devices working on magnetic domain engineering.