Non-volatile electric-field control of room-temperature ferromagnetism in Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructures.

Cai, Chuanyang; Wen, Yao; Yin, Lei; Cheng, Ruiqing; Wang, Hao; Feng, Xiaoqiang; Liu, Liang; Jiang, Chao et al. · Nat Commun · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Van der Waals multiferroic structures hold promises for advancing the development of low-power multifunctional nanoelectronics devices, but single-phase two-dimensional multiferroic materials are limited. In this study, we constructed a room-temperature P(VDF-TrFE)/Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure (ferromagnetic layer thickness of 4.8 nm). and demonstrate significant bidirectional modulation of the Curie temperature upon application of ±90 V. Specifically, the Curie temperature decreased from 326 K to 247 K under +90 V and increased to 366 K under -90 V. Notably, we observed layer-dependent magnetic modulation, In 3-layer Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub>, transitioning from negative to positive polarization increases Curie temperature, while thicker configurations show a decrease. This phenomenon originates from the competition between interlayer/intralayer magnetic exchange coupling driven by the electric field (density functional theory calculations), supporting non-volatile switching of the magnetization state, which is suitable for high-precision neural network computing. This discovery provides an innovative approach for developing low-power multifunctional nanoelectronics devices using two-dimensional magnetoelectric coupling structures.