Manipulating Spin States in CrI₃-based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

In recent years, two-dimensional van der Waals (2D vdW) magnets have attracted significant interest in the research community. Effective manipulation of spin and electronic states in these atomically thin materials is pivotal for advancements in spintronics, offering substantial promise for future computing technologies. We recently developed an innovative way to control spin states in CrI₃-based tunnel junctions using tunneling current. Their research demonstrated that tunneling current can deterministically toggle between spin-parallel and spin-antiparallel states in few-layer CrI₃, dependent on the polarity and amplitude of the current. Moreover, they achieved tunneling current-tunable stochastic switching among multiple spin states in CrI₃ tunnel devices—a capability surpassing the traditional bi-stable functionality of magnetic tunnel junctions and previously unobserved in 2D vdW magnets. These breakthroughs not only bridge the current knowledge gap regarding the impact of tunneling current on magnetism in 2D magnets but also pave the way for the development of energy-efficient computing devices, including probabilistic and neuromorphic computing systems and advanced memory technologies.