Large magnetoresistance induced by monolayer ScV2S4 with interlayer antiferromagnetic coupling between two V atomic layers

Abstract

Antiferromagnetic spintronic devices are ideal candidates for next-generation picosecond-response and high-density information carriers, and the discovery of van der Waals (vdW) antiferromagnets provides a new platform for exploring antiferromagnet-based spintronic devices. Here, we propose monolayer ScV2S4 antiferromagnet with two magnetic V atomic layers and investigate the influence of strain on the electronic structure, magnetic property, and in-plane spin-dependent transport of the proposed monolayer ScV2S4 using first-principles calculations. It is found that the proposed monolayer ScV2S4 is an antiferromagnetic (AFM) metal with the interlayer AFM coupling between two V atomic layers, and the interlayer AFM coupling can be switched to ferromagnetic coupling by a compressive strain of −2.2%. Moreover, a large magnetoresistance of about 114–120% is achieved in the proposed monolayer ScV2S4 using a compressive strain of −2.5%. The electrical control of the interlayer magnetic coupling in monolayer ScV2S4 clamped by piezoelectric material can be achieved by combining the strain-induced change in interlayer magnetic coupling of monolayer ScV2S4 with the inverse piezoelectricity of piezoelectric materials. Our work presents a promising avenue for developing low-dissipation vdW spintronic devices based on antiferromagnets.