Magnetic skyrmions in two-dimensional half-metallic MoX2 (X = S, Se)

Magnetic skyrmions hosted in two-dimensional (2D) magnets offer exciting prospects for next-generation spintronic information storage and processing. Nevertheless, progress on skyrmions in 2D systems has been limited, mainly owing to the inversion symmetry of most 2D magnets, which in turn leads to the lack of the key factor Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) for generating topological magnetic structures. In this study, 2D half-metallic MoX2 (X = S, Se) monolayers are investigated by first-principles calculations and atomic spin simulations, which reveal their high Curie temperatures, strong DMI, and intrinsic chiral spin textures. Crucially, both MoS2 and MoSe2 can host stable skyrmion states over a wide range of external magnetic fields. Moreover, a dimensionless criterion is used to clarify the relationship between magnetic parameters and spin textures. The findings highlight that MoX2 monolayers are promising candidates for developing spintronic devices based on topological spin textures.