CrTe$_2$ as a two-dimensional material for topological magnetism in complex heterobilayers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how interfacing CrTe$_2$ with Te-based layers in heterobilayers can control magnetic interactions, leading to the emergence of topological magnetic phases like skyrmions and antiferromagnetic Neel merons, with implications for quantum information technology.

Contribution

It introduces a multiscale modeling approach showing how 2D CrTe$_2$ heterobilayers can be engineered to host topological magnetic phases, including novel antiferromagnetic textures.

Findings

Control of magnetic exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in heterobilayers.

Emergence of skyrmions and antiferromagnetic Neel merons.

Potential for engineering topological magnetic phases in 2D materials.

Abstract

The discovery of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals magnetic materials and their heterostructures provided an exciting platform for emerging phenomena with intriguing implications in information technology. Here, based on a multiscale modelling approach that combines first-principles calculations and a Heisenberg model, we demonstrate that interfacing a CrTe$_2$ layer with various Te-based layers enables the control of the magnetic exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions as well as the magnetic anisotropy energy of the whole heterobilayer, and thereby the emergence of topological magnetic phases such as skyrmions and antiferromagnetic Neel merons. The latter are novel particles in the world of topological magnetism since they arise in a frustrated Neel magnetic environment and manifest as multiples of intertwined hexamer-textures. Our findings pave a promising road for proximity-induced engineering of both ferromagnetic and long-sought antiferromagnetic chiral objects in the very same 2D material, which is appealing for new information technology devices employing quantum materials.