Tuning magnetocaloric effect of monolayer via flexomagnetism

Flexomagnetism, a coupling between strain gradient and magnetization, offers an alternative pathway to tune the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) by leveraging huge strain gradients in monolayers. Herein, we demonstrate that shear-strain gradient can modulate the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in monolayer CrN and then influence the external magnetic field-induced magnetization reversal process characterized by topological magnetic textures, ultimately enabling tuning of the MCE. It is found that strain gradient can increase the isothermal magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) and adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad) of monolayer CrN. A shear-strain gradient of 3 × 107/m was seen to effectively tune ΔSM at low temperatures due to the entropic contribution associated with the topological-to-ferromagnetic magnetic phase transition. Our results suggest a new route to tailor the MCE of monolayers via strain gradients by exploiting flexomagnetism.