Potential of MXenes as a novel material for spintronic devices: a review

Abstract

The search for materials for next-generation spintronic applications has witnessed exponentially increasing interest, mainly due to the explosive development of numerous two-dimensional (2D) materials discovered in the last decade. Among them, MXenes have emerged as promising candidates for many applications due to their unique and versatile tunability in structure and properties. In particular, their excellent combination of conductivity and highly charged surfaces leads to outstanding electrochemical properties that are significant in electronic applications. Moreover, the ease of modifying the atomic and electronic structures, and thus the functionalities of MXenes, further opens up the opportunity to realize MXenes-based spintronic device applications. The explosive development of MXenes, such as tuning the bandgap and enhancing their magnetic properties, could pave the way for the integration of MXenes in device configurations suitable for spintronics. In this article, we provide an overview of the potential applications of MXenes with a special focus on spintronic device applications. We commence the discussion with various fundamental aspects of spintronics, including the understanding of materials for spintronics in general, MXenes, and their fabrication, followed by presenting perspectives on plausible strategies and future challenges in integrating MXenes into spintronic devices.