Ferromagnet-like binary switching of a Stoner–Wohlfarth antiferromagnet

作者：Zhanshan Wang, Yining Xiang, Ruohan Chen, Zeyuan Sun, Canyu Hong, Xinyu Chen, Jingjing Gao, Sheng-Ze Wu, Shuang Wu, Zhongxun Guo, Yi Chen, Qixi Mi, Zhongkai Liu, Shaohua Yan, Wei Ruan, Wei Ruan, Yuanbo Zhang, Wei-Tao Liu, Wei-Tao Liu, Zhe Yuan, Shiwei Wu, Shiwei Wu · 发表于：Nature · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1038/s41586-025-10019-9 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：2D Materials and Applications、Magnetic properties of thin films、Multiferroics and related materials

The Stoner–Wohlfarth antiferromagnet (AFM), an extension of the classical Stoner–Wohlfarth model originally describing the magnetization reversal in ferromagnetic nanoparticles1,2, refers to a single-domain AFM whose Néel vector can be coherently switched by the magnetic field. These AFMs not only retain the inherent advantages of antiferromagnetism but also feature controllable Néel vector and a perfect switching ratio, thus emerging as promising building blocks for ultradense magnetic memories and high-throughput computing systems3,4. However, bulk AFMs are not the Stoner–Wohlfarth AFMs owing to the hard-to-switch Néel vector and inevitable multidomain structure3,5–7. Here we report that CrPS4, a two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) A-type AFM, exhibits ideal characteristics of the Stoner–Wohlfarth AFMs, because of the dominance of antiferromagnetic exchange over the magnetic anisotropy and high quality of vdW interfaces. The antiferromagnetic order undergoes a ferromagnet (FM)-like binary switching with the magnetic field rather than the layer-by-layer flipping observed in other 2D A-type AFMs. Moreover, we deduce the characteristic exchange length of several vdW A-type AFMs and propose a criterion for judging the Stoner–Wohlfarth AFMs. Our work therefore establishes a universal framework for understanding the magnetization reversal in layered AFMs and promotes the effective use of 2D AFMs in advanced spintronic devices. CrPS4, a 2D van der Waals A-type antiferromagnet...