Issue 40, 2020

Tunable ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism via ferroelastic switching in an FeOOH monolayer

Abstract

The exotic effects arising from the interplay between ferroic states in two-dimensional (2D) materials are arousing increasing interest. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate the coexistence of three ferroic scenarios: ferroelectric (FE), antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferroelastic (FA) states in an experimentally-accessible hydroxyl oxidized iron (FeOOH) monolayer. The unique hydrogen-bond network leads to in-plane spontaneous FE polarization with a magnitude of 77.5 pC m−1. The magnetic moments of the spin-polarized Fe ions prefer an AFM ordering with a Néel temperature of 126 K and the easy magnetization axis parallel to the electric polarization direction. Meanwhile, the FeOOH monolayer exhibits prominent ferroelasticity with a large reversible FA strain of 23.6% and a moderate switching energy barrier (0.135 eV per atom), enabling a switchable easy magnetization axis and spontaneous electrical polarization. The multiferroic properties of the FeOOH monolayer not only offer a promising platform for the study of multi-ferroic effects, such as electroelastic and magnetoelastic effects, but also bring about new concepts for next-generation nonvolatile memory devices and multi-stage storage.

Graphical abstract: Tunable ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism via ferroelastic switching in an FeOOH monolayer

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
15 Sep 2020
Accepted
21 Sep 2020
First published
23 Sep 2020

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 13982-13989

Tunable ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism via ferroelastic switching in an FeOOH monolayer

X. Feng, X. Ma, L. Sun, J. Liu and M. Zhao, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 13982 DOI: 10.1039/D0TC04400H

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