Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction torques and domain wall dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in van der Waals heterostructures enable electric-field control of magnetization and domain wall motion, offering low-energy spintronic device potential.

Contribution

It demonstrates the role of DMI torques in vdW heterostructures and shows how ferroelectric switching can induce domain wall motion without current.

Findings

DMI torques can be pumped by ferroelectric switching.

Interfacial DMI significantly enlarges the Walker field.

Domain wall motion can be driven by electric fields with low energy.

Abstract

Since the discovery of two-dimensional ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, the van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures constructed by ferroelectric and ferromagnetic monolayers have soon become the ideal platforms to achieve converse magnetoelectric functions at the nanoscale, namely to use electric field to control magnetization. In this Letter, by employing density functional theory calculations and dynamic simulations of atomic spin model, we study the key role of interfacial Dzyaloshinshii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in CrI$_3$-In$_2$Se$_3$ vdW heterostructures. Our work demonstrates feasible DMI torques pumped by ferroelectric switching, which can drive current-free and low-energy consumption domain wall motion. Moreover, such interfacial DMI can also significantly enlarge the Walker field in magnetic field-driven domain wall technique.