Orientation-selective spin-polarized edge states in monolayer NiI2
Spin-polarized edge states in two-dimensional materials hold promise for spintronics and quantum computing applications. Constructing stable edge states by tailoring two-dimensional semiconductor materials with bulk-boundary correspondence is a feasible approach. Recently layered NiI<sub>2</sub> is suggested as a two-dimensional type-II multiferroic semiconductor with intrinsic spiral spin ordering and chirality-induced electric polarization. However, the one-dimensional spin-polarized edge states of multiferroic materials down to monolayer limit has not yet been studied. We report here that monolayer NiI<sub>2</sub> was successfully synthesized on Au(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. Spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy experiments visualize orientation-selective spin-polarized edge states in monolayer NiI<sub>2</sub> islands. By performing first-principles calculations, we further confirm that spin-polarized edge states are selectively aligning along the Ni-terminated edges rather than the I-terminated edges. Our result will provide the opportunity to tune edge states by selected orientation and to develop spintronic devices in two-dimensional magnetic semiconductors.
Authors
- Xinlei Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0324-2956)
- Huiru Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3251-4180)
- Peng Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5963-1390)
- Baojie Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2332-7949)
- Fengjie Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8116-424X)
- Kehui Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7698-5673)
- Yi‐Qi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7636-7368)
- Jia‐Tao Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3519-352X)
- Jin Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1346-5280)
- Lan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4426-9944)
- Yao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2893-111X)
- Yu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2261-3169)
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-12-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55372-x
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.38
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation