Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction torques and domain wall dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures

Since the discovery of two-dimensional ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, the van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures constructed by ferroelectric and ferromagnetic monolayers soon became the ideal platforms to achieve converse magnetoelectric functions at the nanoscale, namely to use the electric field to control magnetization. In this Letter, by employing density functional theory calculations and dynamic simulations of the atomic spin model, we study the key role of the interfacial Dzyaloshinshii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in CrI₃-In₂Se₃ vdW heterostructures. Our work demonstrates feasible DMI torques pumped by ferroelectric switching, which can drive current-free and low-energy-consumption domain wall motion. Moreover, such an interfacial DMI can also significantly enlarge the Walker field in the magnetic-field-driven domain wall technique.