Macroscopic tunneling probe of Moiré spin textures in twisted CrI3
Bowen Yang, Tarun Patel, Meixin Cheng, Kostyantyn Pichugin, Lin Tian, Nachiket Sherlekar, Shaohua Yan, Fu Yang, Shangjie Tian, Hechang Lei, Michael E. Reimer, Junichi Okamoto, Adam W. Tsen
Abstract
Abstract Various noncollinear spin textures and magnetic phases have been predicted in twisted two-dimensional CrI 3 due to competing ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) interlayer exchange from moiré stacking—with potential spintronic applications even when the underlying material possesses a negligible Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya or dipole–dipole interaction. Recent measurements have shown evidence of coexisting FM and AFM layer order in small-twist-angle CrI 3 bilayers and double bilayers. Yet, the nature of the magnetic textures remains unresolved and possibilities for their manipulation and electrical readout are unexplored. Here, we use tunneling magnetoresistance to investigate the collective spin states of twisted double-bilayer CrI 3 under both out-of-plane and in-plane magnetic fields together with detailed micromagnetic simulations of domain dynamics based on magnetic circular dichroism. Our results capture hysteretic and anisotropic field evolutions of the magnetic states and we further uncover two distinct non-volatile spin textures (out-of-plane and in-plane domains) at ≈1° twist angle, with a different global tunneling resistance that can be switched by magnetic field.