journal article·2026-06

Room-temperature two-dimensional multiferroic metal with voltage-controllable magnetic order

Dacheng Tian, Shulin Zhong, Jianyu Dong, Song Zhou, Zhiwen Liu, Kai Chen, Wenhua Zhang, Liang Cao, Xiaoyue He, Xiu Li, Tengyu Guo, Kunrong Du, Haifeng Feng, Yu Wang, Peng Cheng, Yiqi Zhang, Baojie Feng, Kehui Wu, Suhuai Wei, Yi Du, Yunhao Lu, Lan Chen

Nature Materials· Volume 25· Issue 6
Publisher page

Abstract

Realizing two-dimensional multiferroics with robust magnetoelectric coupling for electric-field-controlled magnetism at room temperature poses substantial challenges, as ferroelectricity and magnetism inherently conflict. Here we report air-stable bilayer CrTe2 that exhibits intrinsic room-temperature multiferroicity. Structural and magnetic characterization reveals an alternating ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic bilayer architecture, driven by interlayer charge transfer that spontaneously breaks inversion symmetry and generates a switchable out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization. Scanning probe microscopy confirms the non-volatile control of magnetization states with an electric field, enabling electrical writing and magnetic reading functionalities. This mechanism, rooted in interlayer charge transfer, rather than conventional spin-orbit coupling, provides a foundation for engineering multiferroics with layered systems. The demonstration of a two-dimensional multiferroic material with magnetoelectric coupling under ambient conditions provides opportunities for energy-efficient memory devices and quantum sensing technologies.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Multiferroics and related materials · 2D Materials and Applications · Iron-based superconductors research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

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