Field-Free Spin–Orbit Torque Switching in Janus Chromium Dichalcogenides
Libor Vojáček, Joaquín Medina Dueñas, Jing Li, Fatima Ibrahim, Aurélien Manchon, Stephan Roche, Mairbek Chshiev, José H. García
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide We predict a very large spin–orbit torque (SOT) capability of magnetic chromium-based transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers in their Janus forms CrXTe, with X = S, Se. The structural inversion symmetry breaking, inherent to Janus structures is responsible for a large SOT response generated by giant Rashba splitting, equivalent to that obtained by applying a transverse electric field of ∼100 V nm –1 in non-Janus CrTe 2, completely out of experimental reach. By performing transport simulations on carefully derived Wannier tight-binding models, Janus systems are found to exhibit an SOT performance comparable to the most efficient two-dimensional materials, while additionally allowing for field-free perpendicular magnetization switching, due to their reduced in-plane symmetry. Altogether, our findings evidence that magnetic Janus TMDs stand as suitable candidates for ultimate SOT-MRAM devices in an ultracompact self-induced SOT scheme.