Consequences of magneto-electrical coupling in multiferroic VSe$_{2}$$/$Sc$_{2}$CO$_{2}$ heterostructures

TL;DR

This study uses Density Functional Theory to explore how magneto-electric coupling in VSe₂/Sc₂CO₂ heterostructures can induce electronic phase transitions, enabling potential applications in nanoscale memory and transistor devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates the tunability of electronic states via ferroelectric polarization changes in 2D heterostructures, revealing a semiconductor to half-metal transition.

Findings

Ferroelectric polarization affects spin-polarized band structures.

Magneto-electric coupling induces semiconductor to half-metal transition.

Potential for non-volatile memory and transistor applications.

Abstract

Two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures are potential game changers both in understanding the fundamental physics and in the realization of various devices that exploit magnetism at the nanoscale. Multiferroic heterostructures comprising a two-dimensional ferroelectric and a two-dimensional ferromagnet are ideal candidates for electrical control of properties of the ferromagnets that can lead to non-volatile memory devices, for example. Relatively new but immensely promising two-dimensional materials, MXene and transition metal dichalcogenides, can be effectively combined to achieve the goal as both have flexibilities in their structures and compositions that are tunable. In this work, using Density Functional Theory, we have investigated the magneto-electric coupling driven transitions in the electronic ground states of VSe$_{2}$-Sc$_{2}$CO$_{2}$ bi-layer and tri-layer heterostructures. Our results demonstrate that the change in the ferroelectric polarisation in the MXene layer leads to changes in the spin-polarized band structures of the magnetic component VSe$_{2}$ enabling a semiconductor to half-metal transition in these heterostructures. We propose several applications of this magneto-electric coupling in these multiferroic heterostructures that can lead to the efficient operation of Field Effect transistors and achieve non-volatility in memory devices at the nanoscale.