An atomically thin layer of Ru/MoS2 heterostructure: structural, electronic, and magnetic properties

The fabrication of a transition metal (TM) atomically thin layer with robust ferromagnetic ordering (FM) for the continuous miniaturization of spintronic and quantum computing devices is desired. Through first-principles calculations, we establish that Ru atoms can be epitaxially aligned on MoS2 monolayers, thus forming an atomically thin layer of 2D Ru/MoS2 heterostructure with high structural stability. The Ru layer possesses a robust FM (more than 300 K) and an out-of-plane easy axis with the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of similar to 3.4 meV per atom. In particular, we find that the FM can be switched by an external electric field (E-field) of 1.5 V nm(-1). We propose that this atomically thin layer of Ru/MoS2 heterostructure can be used as an alternative candidate for free-standing magnetic TM layers and provides new possibilities to design 2D spintronic devices.