All-optical resonant magnetization switching in CrI3 monolayers

Efficient control of a magnetization without an application of the external magnetic fields is the ultimate goal of spintronics. We demonstrate that in monolayers of ${\text{CrI}}₃$, magnetization can be switched all optically by application of the resonant pulses of circularly polarized light. This happens because of the efficient coupling of the lattice magnetization with a bright excitonic transition. ${\text{CrI}}₃$ is thus a perspective functional material with high potential for applications in the domains of spintronics and ultrafast magnetic memory.