Strain-tunable magnetic and electronic properties of a CuCl3 monolayer

Recently, theoretical search has found that a two-dimensional CuCl3 monolayer is a ferromagnetic semiconductor. Here, we apply density functional theory to study its geometrical structure, magnetic and electronic properties under the influence of a biaxial strain epsilon. It is found that the CuCl3 monolayer exhibits ferromagnetic ordering at the ground state with epsilon = 0 and its Curie temperature increases monotonously with respect to the biaxial strain, which can be increased to about 100 K at 10% tensile strain. When a compressive strain of about 6.8% is applied, a transition from the ferromagnetic to the antiferromagnetic state occurs. In addition to the transition of the magnetic ground state, the electronic band gaps of spin-up and spin-down electrons undergo direct-indirect and indirect-direct-indirect transitions at the tensile strains, respectively. The tunable magnetic and electronic properties investigated in this work are helpful in understanding the magnetism in the CuCl3 monolayer, which is useful for the design of spintronic devices based on ferromagnetic semiconductors.

Automated summary

A recent theoretical study has found that a two-dimensional CuCl3 monolayer behaves as a ferromagnetic semiconductor. Using density functional theory, the researchers investigated the geometrical structure, magnetic, and electronic properties of the CuCl3 monolayer under biaxial strain. It was discovered that the monolayer exhibits ferromagnetic ordering at its ground state and the Curie temperature increases with increasing biaxial strain, reaching about 100 K at 10% tensile strain. However, a transition from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic state occurs under compressive strain of about 6.8%. The results of this study provide insights into the tunable magnetic and electronic properties of the CuCl3 monolayer, which are important for the design of spintronic devices based on ferromagnetic semiconductors.