Layer-dependent Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and field-free topological magnetism in two-dimensional Janus MnSTe

• Published in: 2d materials Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 35020 - 35028
• Main Authors: Ga, Yonglong, Yu, Dongxing, Wang, Liming, Li, Peng, Liang, Jinghua, Yang, Hongxin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.07.2023
• Subjects: 2D magnets; Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya; field-free; topological magnetism
• ISSN: 2053-1583; 2053-1583
• DOI: 10.1088/2053-1583/acd2e9

Magnetic skyrmions, as topologically protected whirl-like solitons, have been the subject of growing interest in non-volatile spintronic memories and logic devices. Recently, much effort has been devoted to searching for skyrmion host materials in two-dimensional (2D) systems, where intrinsic inversion symmetry breaking and a large Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) are desirable to realize a field-free skyrmion state. Among these systems, 2D magnetic Janus materials have become important candidates for inducing a sizable DMI and chiral spin textures. Herein, we demonstrate that layer-dependent DMI and field-free magnetic skyrmions can exist in multilayer MnSTe. Moreover, strong interlayer exchange coupling and Bethe–Slater curve-like behaviors arising from the Mn–Mn double exchange mechanism are found in bilayer MnSTe. We also uncover that the distribution of DMIs in multilayer MnSTe can be understood as making a significant contribution to the intermediate DMI using the three-site Fert–Lévy model. Our results unveil great potential for designing skyrmion-based spintronic devices in multilayer 2D materials.