Ferromagnetic vanadium disulfide VS2 monolayers with high Curie temperature and high spin polarization

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of vanadium disulfide VS2 monolayers were investigated using first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The results of molecular dynamics simulations and phonon dispersion showed that the VS2 monolayer has good dynamic and thermodynamic stabilities. Based on the results of the band structure, we also explore the effect of carrier concentrations on the spin gap, spin polarization and the direction of the easy magnetic axis. Our results demonstrated that doping an appropriate amount of holes can cause the reversal of the easy magnetic axis and maintain nearly 100% spin polarization, which greatly improves the application possibility of the VS2 monolayer as a spintronic device. The contribution of different orbits to the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect is given in magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, which provides a theoretical basis for explaining the origin of magnetic crystal anisotropy. Based on the MC simulations, we also showed the influences of different parameters (carrier concentrations, magnetic field and crystal field) on the magnetothermal properties of the VS2 monolayer. It is found that the increase of hole doping concentrations can promote the increase of the Curie temperature, while the increase of electron doping concentrations will greatly weaken the Curie temperature. Furthermore, according to the influences of different parameters on the Curie temperature and spin polarization, we conclude that a suitably enhanced magnetic field and appropriate hole concentrations will not only make the system maintain high spin polarization, but also make the system exhibit ferromagnetic properties above room temperature.

Automated summary

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of vanadium disulfide VS2 monolayers were studied using first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. The results showed that the VS2 monolayer is dynamically and thermodynamically stable. The effects of carrier concentrations on spin gap, spin polarization, and magnetic axis were explored, and it was found that appropriate hole doping can reverse the magnetic axis and maintain high spin polarization.