Structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the Van der Waals ScSi2N₄/VSi2N₄ heterostructure: a first-principles study

van der Waals (vdW) interactions enhance countless spin-dependent electronic devices, raising the focus to discover new magnetic interactions. This work aims for a 2D vdW heterostructure based on MSi2N₄ with M=Sc and V. Phonon calculations demonstrate that both Sc- and V-based monolayers are dynamically stables. Furthermore, these monolayers exhibit ferromagnetic behavior, functioning as halfmetal and semimetal. When stacked, they demonstrate electronic transitions to metallic and half-metallic

states. The vdW heterostructure is investigated considering three different stackings, our results show that the T4 ordering is the most favorable configuration. Also, by the non-covalent interaction index, we corroborate that monolayers are interacting by vdW forces preserving the electronic texture and their ferromagnetic in-plane tendency. Moreover, despite this tendency, AFM and FM interactions between monolayers were found to be feasible in experiments, this represents a step towards silicon-based spintronic devices.