Fully Electric Switching of Magnetic Domains in a van der Waals Multiferroic Heterostructure

Abstract

Multiferroic materials offer a powerful and efficient way to control magnetism using electric fields, a goal that has been pursued for many years. To date, the fully electric switching of magnetism still remains challenging. Here, we report a van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure multiferroic comprising magnetic trilayer CrI3 and ferroelectric (FE) α-In2Se3. Using a magneto-optoelectric coupled system, we observed fully electric switching of magnetic domains in the multiferroic heterostructure at zero magnetic field. Theoretical calculations reveal that the electric switching of magnetic states originates from the modulation of interlayer coupling in trilayer CrI3 by ferroelectric polarization. Our work provides an ideal platform for creating strong magnetoelectric coupling multiferroics at the atomic layer limit, with potential applications in low-energy multistate magnetic memory and brain-inspired neuromorphic computing