Controlling the 2D magnetism of CrBr₃ by van der Waals stacking engineering

The manipulation of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic order is of significant importance to facilitate future 2D magnets for low-power and high-speed spintronic devices. Van der Waals stacking engineering makes promises for controllable magnetism via interlayer magnetic coupling. However, directly examining the stacking order changes accompanying magnetic order transitions at the atomic scale and preparing device-ready 2D magnets with controllable magnetic orders remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate effective control of interlayer stacking in exfoliated CrBr₃ via thermally assisted strain engineering. The stable interlayer ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM), and FM-AFM coexistent ground states confirmed by the magnetic circular dichroism measurements are realized. Combined with the first-principles calculations, the atomically-resolved imaging technique reveals the correlation between magnetic order and interlay stacking order in the CrBr₃ flakes unambiguously. A tunable exchange bias effect is obtained in the mixed phase of FM and AFM states. This work will introduce new magnetic properties by controlling the stacking order, and sequence of 2D magnets, providing ample opportunities for the application of 2D magnets in spintronic devices.