Layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic spin reorientation in air-stable semiconductor CrSBr

TL;DR

This study reveals how the interlayer antiferromagnetic spin orientation in the air-stable semiconductor CrSBr varies with layer number, influenced by magnetic interactions, and constructs a magnetic phase diagram relevant for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first atomically detailed insight into layer-dependent interlayer spin reorientation in CrSBr using magnetotransport and first-principles calculations.

Findings

Layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic reorientation observed.

Pronounced odd-even layer effect due to competing magnetic energies.

Constructed a quantitative layer-dependent magnetic phase diagram.

Abstract

Magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials offer a fantastic platform to investigate and exploit rich spin configurations stabilized in reduced dimensions. One tantalizing magnetic order is the interlayer antiferromagnetism in A-type vdW antiferromagnet, which may be effectively modified by the magnetic field, stacking order and thickness scaling. However, atomically revealing the interlayer spin orientation in the vdW antiferromagnet is highly challenging, because most of the material candidates exhibit an insulating ground state or instability in ambient conditions. Here, we report the layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic reorientation in air-stable semiconductor CrSBr using magnetotransport characterization and first-principles calculations. We reveal a pronounced odd-even layer effect of interlayer reorientation, which originates from the competitions among interlayer exchange, magnetic anisotropy energy and extra Zeeman energy of uncompensated magnetization. Furthermore, we quantitatively constructed the layer-dependent magnetic phase diagram with the help of a linear-chain model. Our work uncovers the layer-dependent interlayer antiferromagnetic reorientation engineered by magnetic field in the air-stable semiconductor, which could contribute to future vdW spintronic devices.