Large valley polarization and the valley-dependent Hall effect in a Janus TiTeBr monolayer

Abstract

Ferrovalley materials hold great promise for implementation of logic and memory devices in valleytronics. However, there have so far been limited ferrovalley materials exhibiting significant valley polarization and high Curie temperature (T_C). Using first-principles calculations, we predict that the TiTeBr monolayer is a promising ferrovalley candidate. It exhibits intrinsic ferromagnetism with T_C as high as 220 K. It is indicated that an out-of-plane alignment of magnetization demonstrates a valley polarization up to 113 meV in the topmost valence band, as further verified by perturbation theory considering both the spin polarization and spin–orbit coupling. Under an in-plane electric field, the valley-dependent Berry curvature results in the anomalous valley Hall effect (AVHE). Moreover, under a suitable in-plane biaxial strain, the TiTeBr monolayer transforms into a Chern insulator with a nonzero Chern number, yet retains its ferrovalley characters and thus the emergent quantum anomalous valley Hall effect (QAVHE). Our study indicates that the TiTeBr monolayer is a promising ferrovalley material, and it provides a platform for investigating the valley-dependent Hall effect.