Polarity-tunable field-free room-temperature spin orbit torque switching via topological symmetry breaking in an all-vdW heterostructure for spin logic applications

Two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials hold great promise for advancing low-power, high-integrated spintronic devices due to their atomic flat surfaces and versatile interfacial modulation. However, achieving a combination of room-temperature, field-free spin-orbit torque switching with tunable polarity in wafer-scale vdW heterostructures remains a significant challenge. Here, we demonstrate polarity-tunable, field-free spin-orbit torque switching in an all-vdW Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure, grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Interfacial coupling induces perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> interface, while the rest in-plane magnetic anisotropy component of Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> breaks the inversion symmetry, enabling field-free switching. By modulating the direction of in-plane component, magnetic switching with different polarity could be achieved at low current density (~1.55×10<sup>6</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup>). This allows for 16 reconfigurable Boolean logic functions in a single device, paving a pathway for energy-efficient 2D spintronic memory and logic systems. Our findings highlight the potential of all-vdW spin-orbit torque devices to revolutionize spintronics with scalable, room-temperature electronic control.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-03-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70590-1
Primary Topic
2D Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Polarity-tunable field-free room-temperature spin orbit torque switching via topological symmetry breaking in an all-vdW heterostructure for spin logic applications

Wei Zhao, Zongxia Guo, Fei Gao, N. Jaouen et al.
Nature Communications
2D Materials and Applications
article

Polarity-tunable field-free room-temperature spin orbit torque switching via topological symmetry breaking in an all-vdW heterostructure for spin logic applications

Wei Zhao, Zongxia Guo, Fei Gao, N. Jaouen, Xiaoyue Song, Yun Sun, Shucheng Xing, Guodong Wei, Weiran Xie, Jin Zou, Runyu Zhao, Peiyuan Yu, Tianxiao Nie, Zili Wang, Yuan Yao, Jie Zhang, Jing Li, Roberto Mantovan
article en

Abstract

Two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials hold great promise for advancing low-power, high-integrated spintronic devices due to their atomic flat surfaces and versatile interfacial modulation. However, achieving a combination of room-temperature, field-free spin-orbit torque switching with tunable polarity in wafer-scale vdW heterostructures remains a significant challenge. Here, we demonstrate polarity-tunable, field-free spin-orbit torque switching in an all-vdW Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure, grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Interfacial coupling induces perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> interface, while the rest in-plane magnetic anisotropy component of Fe<sub>4</sub>GeTe<sub>2</sub> breaks the inversion symmetry, enabling field-free switching. By modulating the direction of in-plane component, magnetic switching with different polarity could be achieved at low current density (~1.55×10<sup>6</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup>). This allows for 16 reconfigurable Boolean logic functions in a single device, paving a pathway for energy-efficient 2D spintronic memory and logic systems. Our findings highlight the potential of all-vdW spin-orbit torque devices to revolutionize spintronics with scalable, room-temperature electronic control.

Nature Communications
Zhejiang International Studies University (CN), Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Italy) (IT), The University of Queensland (AU), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Synchrotron soleil (FR), Institute of Physics (CN), Beihang University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 25%
2D Materials and Applications
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