Ferroelectricity-Driven Metallicity and Magnetic Skyrmions in van der Waals Cr2Ge2Te6/Hf2Ge2Te6 Multiferroic Heterostructure

Abstract: Two-dimensional (2D) multiferroic heterostructures present a promising platform for advanced spin devices by leveraging the coexisting ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) orders. Through first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations, we reveal non-volatile control of metallicity and topological spin textures in the Cr2Ge2Te6/Hf2Ge2Te6(CGT/HGT) heterostructure. Notably, manipulating ferroelectric polarization in HGT significantly modulates the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) of CGT/HGT, reversing the easy magnetization axis from in-plane to out-of-plane. By analyzing the atomic-resolved SOC energy (\Delta Esoc), it is found that the cause of the change comes from the Fert-Levy mechanism. Additionally, this polarization control enables the creation and annihilation of bimerons and skyrmions, with interlayer sliding further altering magnetic ordering. Our findings offer valuable insights into magnetoelectric coupling and spin texture manipulation in 2D magnets, highlighting their potential for next-generation spintronic and memory devices.