Sliding Ferroelectric Metal with Ferrimagnetism

Abstract: Two-dimensional (2D) sliding ferroelectric (FE) metals with ferrimagnetism represent a previously unexplored class of spintronic materials, where the interplay of ferroelectricity, metallicity, and magnetism enables strong magnetoelectric (ME) coupling and electrically tunable spintronic functionalities. Here, based on antiferromagnetic (AFM) metallic bilayers, we propose a general strategy for constructing 2D sliding FE ferrimagnetic (FiM) metals that can achieve tri-state switching, in which the FE polarization, spin splitting, and net magnetization are reversed simultaneously through FE switching. As a prototypical realization, we design a bilayer sliding FE metal with FiM order, derived from monolayer Fe5GeTe2-a van der Waals metal with intrinsic magnetic order close to room temperature. The system exhibits a FE transition from a nonpolar (NP) AFM phase to a FE FiM phase via interlayer sliding. The in-plane mirror symmetry breaking in FE metallic states lift the spin degeneracy that exists in the NP phase, leading to a sizable net magnetic moment and strong linear ME coupling. The interplay between metallicity and FE FiM gives rise to pronounced sign-reversible transport responses near the Fermi level, all of which can be fully electrically controlled by FE switching without reorienting the N\'{e}el order. Our results establish sliding FE metals with FiM as a promising platform for electrically reconfigurable, high-speed, and low-dissipation spintronic devices.