Multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures via enhancing ferroelectric polarization in van der Waals multiferroic heterostructure LaBr/In2Se3

Topological magnetic textures hold great promise for non-volatile memory applications, owing to their topological stability and low energy consumption. Conventional manipulations focus on the creation/annihilation of one topological state or switching between two states, however, the multi-state switching remains largely unexplored. Here, we proposed that enhancing ferroelectric polarization can drive multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures, as evidenced in van der Waals multiferroic heterostructures LaBr/In2Se3. Using first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations, we revealed that increasing In2Se3 thickness triggers phase transitions among three distinct topological magnetic textures, including bimeron, trimeron, and skyrmionium-like structure. The intrinsic mechanism of the phase transitions originates from the competition among LaBr’s exchange interaction, Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, and magnetic anisotropy energy, which are significantly tuned by the enhanced ferroelectric polarization of In2Se3. Our work offers a theoretical guidance for voltage-controlled multi-state switching of topological magnetic textures, which sheds lights on the applications of topological spintronics.