Peierls transition driven ferroelasticity in the two-dimensional <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mtext>−</mml:mtext><mml:mi>f</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> hybrid magnets
Haipeng You, Yang Zhang, Jun Chen, Ning Ding, Ming An, Lin Miao, Shuai Dong
Abstract
For broad nanoscale applications, it is crucial to implement more functional properties, especially ferroic orders, into two-dimensional materials. Here, ${\mathrm{GdI}}_{3}$ is theoretically identified as a honeycomb antiferromagnet with a large $4f$ magnetic moment. The intercalation of metal atoms can dope electrons into Gd's $5d$ orbitals, which alters its magnetic state and leads to a Peierls transition. Due to strong electron-phonon coupling, the Peierls transition induces prominent ferroelasticity, making it a multiferroic system. The strain from unidirectional stretching can be self-relaxed via the resizing of triple ferroelastic domains, which can protect the magnet against mechanical breaking in flexible applications.