Electric-Field Control of 2D Magnetism in Bilayer VI₃

The recent discovery of two-dimensional van-der-Waals (vdW) magnetic materials has received much interest owing to its potentials for future spintronics device applications. There is a large number of recent publications on two-dimensional honeycomb ferromagnet CrI₃, which belong to the family of transition-metal trihalides MX₃ with X = Cl, B, and I, as a promising candidate materials for spintronics and magnetoelectronic applications. VI₃ is a new discovered material that belongs to the transition-metal trihalides. While its structure and bulk properties have been investigated, there is a lack of information about the magnetism in the thin film. In this presentation, we will present our first-priciple study on the magnetic properties in bilayer VI₃ and the influence of applied electric-fields on the magnetism. We predict that the magnetic stability of bilayer VI₃ systems can be tuned by external electric fields and the effect is comparable with the case of bilayer CrI₃. To understand the physics behind, the geometry, stability, and electronic and magnetic properties of bilayer VI₃ will be discussed by presenting the projected density of state and the band structure.