Janus monolayers of magnetic transition metal dichalcogenides as an all-in-one platform for spin-orbit torque

We theoretically predict that vanadium-based Janus dichalcogenide monolayers constitute an ideal platform for spin-orbit torque memories. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that magnetic exchange and magnetic anisotropy energies are higher for heavier chalcogen atoms, while the broken inversion symmetry in the Janus form leads to the emergence of Rashba-like spin-orbit coupling. The spin-orbit torque efficiency is evaluated using optimized quantum transport methodology and found to be comparable to heavy nonmagnetic metals. The coexistence of magnetism and spin-orbit coupling in such materials with tunable Fermi-level opens new possibilities for monitoring magnetization dynamics in the perspective of nonvolatile magnetic random access memories.The authors were supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through Award No. OSR-2018-CRG7-3717 from the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR). For computer time, this research used the resources of the Supercomputing Laboratory at KAUST. ICN2 authors were supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant No. 881603 (Graphene Flagship), by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya, and by the Severo Ochoa program from Spanish MINECO (Grants No. SEV-2017-0706 and No. MAT2016-75952-R)