Room-temperature antiferromagnetic CrSe monolayer with tunable metal-insulator transition in ferroelectric heterostructures

Recently, there has been a rapidly growing interest in two-dimensional (2D) transition metal chalcogenide monolayers (MLs) due to their unique magnetic and electronic properties. By using an evolutionary algorithm and first-principles calculations, we report the discovery of a previously unexplored, chemically, energetically, and thermodynamically stable 2D antiferromagnetic (AFM) CrSe ML with a Neel temperature higher than room temperature. Remarkably, we predict an electric field-controllable metal-insulator transition in a van der Waals heterostructure comprised of CrSe ML and ferroelectric Sc2CO2. This tunable transition in the CrSe/Sc2CO2 heterostructure is attributed to the change in the band alignment between CrSe and Sc2CO2 caused by the ferroelectric polarization reversal in Sc2CO2. Our findings suggest that 2D AFM CrSe ML has important potential applications in AFM spintronics, particularly in the gate voltage conducting channel.

Automated summary

Recently, there has been growing interest in 2D transition metal chalcogenide monolayers due to their unique magnetic and electronic properties. In this study, we discovered a previously unexplored 2D antiferromagnetic CrSe monolayer with stable properties and a higher Neel temperature than room temperature. We also predicted an electric field-controllable metal-insulator transition in a van der Waals heterostructure composed of CrSe and Sc2CO2. This transition is attributed to changes in band alignment caused by the ferroelectric polarization reversal in Sc2CO2. Our findings suggest important potential applications for 2D antiferromagnetic CrSe monolayers in spintronics.