Tunable magnetic transition and electronic structure in monolayer iron trihalides <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Fe</mml:mi> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>X</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:

Two-dimensional (2D) iron trihalides $(\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}, X=\mathrm{F}, \mathrm{Cl}, \mathrm{Br}, \mathrm{I})$ are an emerging family of van der Waals magnets whose fundamental physical properties are not yet fully understood. In this work, we present a systematic first-principles study incorporating hybrid functional (HSE06) calculations and Hubbard U corrections to unravel the spin state, magnetic order, electronic structure, and doping response in monolayer $\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}$. The high-spin $(S=5/2)$ state is unequivocally established as the universal local ground state across the series. A chemical tuned magnetic transition is identified: ${\mathrm{FeF}}_{3}$ adopts N\'eel-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order, while ${\mathrm{FeCl}}_{3}$, ${\mathrm{FeBr}}_{3}$, and ${\mathrm{FeI}}_{3}$ are ferromagnetic (FM) semiconductors with Curie temperatures $({T}_{C})$ monotonically increasing from 154 K to 238 K. This trend is driven by the competition between direct AFM exchange and halogen-mediated FM superexchange. Electronically, ${\mathrm{FeCl}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{FeBr}}_{3}$ are identified as bipolar magnetic semiconductors, exhibiting a perfect linear scaling of the band gap with halogen electronegativity. An effective tight-binding model derived from maximally Wannier functions reveals a progressive increase in crystal-field splitting $({\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{oct}})$ from 3.36 eV to 4.22 eV, underpinning the evolving orbital hierarchy across iron trihalides. Crucially, electron doping induces a nonmonotonic magnetic evolution, from FM to geometrically frustrated AFM (zigzag/stripy), culminating in a reentrant FM state, driven by the competition between kinetic energy minimization and orbital-selective electron correlations. Finally, bilayer systems exhibit a universally robust interlayer AFM coupling driven by ${p}_{z}$ orbital-mediated superexchange across the van der Waals gap. Our work provides a complete microscopic picture of the basic magnetic and electronic properties of the 2D $\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}$, establishing them as a highly versatile material platform for tunable magnetism and spintronics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Materials
Published
2026-03-31
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/ynbm-hkrp
Primary Topic
Magnetism in coordination complexes
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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Tunable magnetic transition and electronic structure in monolayer iron trihalides <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Fe</mml:mi> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>X</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:

F. Ma, Hongwei Bao, Qian Wan, Wenting Wu et al.
Physical Review Materials
Magnetism in coordination complexes
article

Tunable magnetic transition and electronic structure in monolayer iron trihalides <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Fe</mml:mi> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>X</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:

F. Ma, Hongwei Bao, Qian Wan, Wenting Wu, Jia Wu, Yan Li
article en

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) iron trihalides $(\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}, X=\mathrm{F}, \mathrm{Cl}, \mathrm{Br}, \mathrm{I})$ are an emerging family of van der Waals magnets whose fundamental physical properties are not yet fully understood. In this work, we present a systematic first-principles study incorporating hybrid functional (HSE06) calculations and Hubbard U corrections to unravel the spin state, magnetic order, electronic structure, and doping response in monolayer $\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}$. The high-spin $(S=5/2)$ state is unequivocally established as the universal local ground state across the series. A chemical tuned magnetic transition is identified: ${\mathrm{FeF}}_{3}$ adopts N\'eel-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order, while ${\mathrm{FeCl}}_{3}$, ${\mathrm{FeBr}}_{3}$, and ${\mathrm{FeI}}_{3}$ are ferromagnetic (FM) semiconductors with Curie temperatures $({T}_{C})$ monotonically increasing from 154 K to 238 K. This trend is driven by the competition between direct AFM exchange and halogen-mediated FM superexchange. Electronically, ${\mathrm{FeCl}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{FeBr}}_{3}$ are identified as bipolar magnetic semiconductors, exhibiting a perfect linear scaling of the band gap with halogen electronegativity. An effective tight-binding model derived from maximally Wannier functions reveals a progressive increase in crystal-field splitting $({\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{oct}})$ from 3.36 eV to 4.22 eV, underpinning the evolving orbital hierarchy across iron trihalides. Crucially, electron doping induces a nonmonotonic magnetic evolution, from FM to geometrically frustrated AFM (zigzag/stripy), culminating in a reentrant FM state, driven by the competition between kinetic energy minimization and orbital-selective electron correlations. Finally, bilayer systems exhibit a universally robust interlayer AFM coupling driven by ${p}_{z}$ orbital-mediated superexchange across the van der Waals gap. Our work provides a complete microscopic picture of the basic magnetic and electronic properties of the 2D $\mathrm{Fe}{X}_{3}$, establishing them as a highly versatile material platform for tunable magnetism and spintronics.

Physical Review MaterialsVol. 10(3)
China XD Group (China) (CN), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 31%
Magnetism in coordination complexes
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