Sliding Ferroelectric Control of Unconventional Magnetism in Stacked Bilayers

The control of unconventional magnetism, which displays ferromagnetismlike properties with compensated magnetization, has drawn intense attention for advancing antiferromagnetic spintronics. Here, through symmetry analysis, we propose a general stacking rule, characterized by a connection operator linking two stacked bilayers, for controlling unconventional magnetism via sliding ferroelectricity. Such a rule enables the simultaneous switching of both electric polarization and nonrelativistic spin splitting or anomalous Hall effect in altermagnets, a class of collinear unconventional magnets. By comprehensively surveying the 80 layer groups, we identify all the stacking orders that allow for such two types of simultaneous switching. Furthermore, we extend the stacking rule to collinear compensated ferrimagnets, where the opposite-spin sublattices are not connected by any symmetry operator, yet the net magnetization remains zero. Combined with first-principles calculations, we demonstrate the sliding ferroelectric control of spin polarization and anomalous Hall effect in the altermagnetic AgF_{2} and Fe_{2}MoSe_{4} bilayers. Our Letter provides a symmetry strategy for achieving ferroelectric control of unconventional magnetism in bilayer systems and opens avenues for exploring new types of magnetoelectric coupling.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-07-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/dmzg-ck2t
Citations
15
Primary Topic
Magnetic properties of thin films
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
18.70

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article

Sliding Ferroelectric Control of Unconventional Magnetism in Stacked Bilayers

Mingqiang Gu, Yuntian Liu, Qihang Liu, Yuhui Li et al.
15 citations
Physical Review Letters
Magnetic properties of thin films
18.70
article

Sliding Ferroelectric Control of Unconventional Magnetism in Stacked Bilayers

Mingqiang Gu, Yuntian Liu, Qihang Liu, Yuhui Li, Xiaobing Chen, Karl J. Friston
article en
15 citations

Abstract

The control of unconventional magnetism, which displays ferromagnetismlike properties with compensated magnetization, has drawn intense attention for advancing antiferromagnetic spintronics. Here, through symmetry analysis, we propose a general stacking rule, characterized by a connection operator linking two stacked bilayers, for controlling unconventional magnetism via sliding ferroelectricity. Such a rule enables the simultaneous switching of both electric polarization and nonrelativistic spin splitting or anomalous Hall effect in altermagnets, a class of collinear unconventional magnets. By comprehensively surveying the 80 layer groups, we identify all the stacking orders that allow for such two types of simultaneous switching. Furthermore, we extend the stacking rule to collinear compensated ferrimagnets, where the opposite-spin sublattices are not connected by any symmetry operator, yet the net magnetization remains zero. Combined with first-principles calculations, we demonstrate the sliding ferroelectric control of spin polarization and anomalous Hall effect in the altermagnetic AgF_{2} and Fe_{2}MoSe_{4} bilayers. Our Letter provides a symmetry strategy for achieving ferroelectric control of unconventional magnetism in bilayer systems and opens avenues for exploring new types of magnetoelectric coupling.

Physical Review LettersVol. 135(5)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), Shenzhen Bay Laboratory (CN), Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Collaborative Innovation for Environmental Quality (CN), Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN), FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ), Institute of Physics (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Magnetic properties of thin films
18.70
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