Electrical and magnetic anisotropies in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP2S6

Multiferroic materials have great potential in non-volatile devices for low-power and ultra-high density information storage, owing to their unique characteristic of coexisting ferroelectric and ferromagnetic orders. The effective manipulation of their intrinsic anisotropy makes it promising to control multiple degrees of the storage medium. Here, we have discovered intriguing in-plane electrical and magnetic anisotropies in van der Waals (vdW) multiferroic CuCrP2S6. The uniaxial anisotropies of current rectifications, magnetic properties and magnon modes are demonstrated and manipulated by electric direction/polarity, temperature variation and magnetic field. More important, we have discovered the spin-flop transition corresponding to specific resonance modes, and determined the anisotropy parameters by consistent model fittings and theoretical calculations. Our work provides in-depth investigation and quantitative analysis of electrical and magnetic anisotropies with the same easy axis in vdW multiferroics, which will stimulate potential device applications of artificial bionic synapses, multi-terminal spintronic chips and magnetoelectric devices. Manipulating electrical and magnetic anisotropies will stimulate multi-terminal device applications. Here, the authors discover axis dependence of current rectifications, magnetic properties and magnon modes in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP2S6.

Automated summary

Manipulating electrical and magnetic anisotropies has been demonstrated in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP2S6, with axis dependence of current rectifications, magnetic properties and magnon modes. The discovery of spin-flop transition and determination of anisotropy parameters by consistent model fittings and theoretical calculations provide in-depth investigation and quantitative analysis, stimulating potential device applications in artificial bionic synapses, multi-terminal spintronic chips, and magnetoelectric devices.