Nonvolatile spin field effect transistor based on VSi2N4/Sc2CO2 multiferroic heterostructure

We report first-principles calculations that propose a nonvolatile spin field effect transistor (spin- FET) based on a van der Waals multiferroic heterostructure, i.e., VSi2N4/Sc2CO2. We find that the inversion of ferroelectric polarization of monolayer Sc2CO2 can efficiently modulate the electronic states of monolayer VSi2N4. A half-metal to half-semiconductor phase translation of VSi2N4 can be efficiently realized, which leads to distinct electronic transport properties. We additionally construct a spin-FET device based on the multiferroic heterostructure. We find that the VSi2 N4 /Sc2 CO2 based Spin-FET has remarkable all-electric-controlled performance. A large on-off current ratio of about 650% induced by the inversion of Sc2CO2 ferroelectric polarization can be obtained under a small bias voltage (0.02 V). We also find an interesting spatially-separated spin-polarized transport phenomenon, with the pure spin-up (spin-down) electrons transporting merely in VSi2N4 (Sc2CO2). Our study provides a promising approach for constructing low-energy-dissipation and nonvolatile FET devices.