The technique of conventional ferromagnet/heavy-metal spin-orbit torque (SOT) provides the potential for significantly improving efficiency of magnetic memories, but facing fundamental physical limitations, including the hunting effects from the metallic layer, torque symmetry for antidamping switching, and spin scattering by the interfacial defects. Here, we propose a field-free van der Waals (vdW) SOT antiferromagnetic memory using vdW bilayer LaBr₂ (antiferromagnetic insulator) and monolayer Td phase WTe₂ (inversion asymmetric semimetal). By employing density functional theory in conjunction with non-equilibrium Green function methods and macrospin simulations, we demonstrate that our proposed SOT device exhibits a low critical current density, enabling field-free and fast magnetization switching, thereby facilitating excellent writing operations. Furthermore, the device demonstrates remarkable low read error, as indicated by a high tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of up to 4250%. These findings open up new possibilities for the development of 2D microelectronics.

张力舒, 女, 1994年生于山东济南。目前于德国亥姆霍兹联合会-于利希研究中心的Peter Grünberg研究所和先进模拟研究所从事博士后研究(洪堡学者), 合作导师为Prof. Stefan Blügel。2016年9月至2021年6月于山东大学材料科学与工程学院攻读博士学位(本科直博), 师从李辉教授。期间赴新加坡国立大学物理系冯元平教授课题组联合培养。2021年8月至2022年8月于新加坡国立大学冯元平教授课题组担任博士后研究员。现任Frontiers杂志编委(2023-2025)。曾获美国物理学会(APS)卓越学生奖、第四届爱思唯尔计算材料科学rising star, 山东省优秀博士论文、山东省优秀毕业生、山东省优秀学生、博士生/本科生国家奖学金等。研究兴趣在于利用密度泛函理论结合非平衡格林函数方法研究低维材料的电子输运和自旋输运特性。目前已发表文章三十余篇，其中以第一作者/共同第一作者在Nature, Applied Physics Reviews, ACS Nano等国际知名期刊发表15篇。