Multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures via enhancing ferroelectric polarization in van der Waals multiferroic heterostructure LaBr/In2Se3

Topological magnetic textures hold great promise for non-volatile memory applications, owing to their topological stability and low energy consumption. Conventional manipulations focus on the creation/annihilation of one topological state or switching between two states, however, the multi-state switching remains largely unexplored. Here, we proposed that enhancing ferroelectric polarization can drive multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures, as evidenced in van der Waals multiferroic heterostructures LaBr/In2Se3. Using first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations, we revealed that increasing In2Se3 thickness triggers phase transitions among three distinct topological magnetic textures, including bimeron, trimeron, and skyrmionium-like structure. The intrinsic mechanism of the phase transitions originates from the competition among LaBr's exchange interaction, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and magnetic anisotropy energy, which are significantly tuned by the enhanced ferroelectric polarization of In2Se3. Our work offers a theoretical guidance for voltage-controlled multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures, which sheds lights on the applications of topological spintronics.