Anomalous valley Hall effect in electric-potential-difference antiferromagnetic $\mathrm{Cr_2CHCl}$ monolayer

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new antiferromagnetic monolayer material, $ ext{Cr}_2 ext{CHCl}$, that exhibits spontaneous spin-splitting and anomalous valley Hall effect at room temperature, enabling energy-efficient valleytronics.

Contribution

It introduces a stable Janus AFM monolayer with spontaneous spin-splitting induced by layer-dependent electric potential, enabling AVHE without external magnetic fields.

Findings

Valley splitting > 51 meV at room temperature

Layer-locked Berry curvature causes AVHE

Janus structure breaks PT symmetry, inducing spin-splitting

Abstract

The antiferromagnetic (AFM) valleytronics can be intrinsically more energy-saving and fast-operating in device applications. In general, the lacking spontaneous spin-splitting hinders the implementation and detection of anomalous valley Hall effect (AVHE). Here, we propose to implement AVHE in electric-potential-difference antiferromagnetic $\mathrm{Cr_2CHCl}$ monolayer with excellent stability, where the spontaneous spin-splitting can be induced due to layer-dependent electrostatic potential caused by out-of-plane built-in electric field. From a symmetry perspective, the introduction of Janus structure breaks the combined symmetry ($PT$ symmetry) of spatial inversion ($P$) and time reversal ($T$), which gives rise to spin-splitting. Both unstarined and strained monolayer $\mathrm{Cr_2CHCl}$ possess valley splitting of larger than 51 meV, which is higher than the thermal energy of room temperature (25 meV). The layer-locked Berry curvature gives rise to layer-locked AVHE. Our work reveals a route to achieve AVHE in AFM monolayer with spontaneous spin-splitting.