Tuning magnetic anistropy by charge injection and strain in Fe/MoS₂ bilayer heterostructures

Ferromagnetic/MoS₂ junctions are significant building blocks for spintronics. Our first-principle calculations show that magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and the direction of magnetization in the Fe/MoS₂ system can be tailored by injecting charge or strain engineering. We demonstrate that these two approaches have a significant influence on the magnitude of the MAE. The hybridization between Fe 3 d and Mo 4 d electrons changes the occupation of d orbitals around the Fermi level, which leads to the strong dependence of MAE on the external charge injection or strain. MAE increases up to ten times higher than that of the neutral system when injecting charge. More intriguing is that the biaxial strain can affect the easy-axis switching in Fe/MoS₂, while the process does not occur in the single Fe monolayer.