Valley splitting in the antiferromagnetic heterostructure MnPSe3/WSe2

Abstract

The spin degeneracy in antiferromagnets hinders the spin splitting valleys, which limits their application in spintronic and valleytronic devices. In the two dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic (AFM) heterostructure MnPSe3/WSe2, the coexistence of spin-orbit, spin-valley, and interlayer coupling produces the spin splitting valence band maximum (VBM) from the nonmagnetic semiconductor WSe2 and the spin splitting conduction band minimum (CBM) from the antiferromagnet MnPSe3, which results in a sizable spin- and k-resolved valley splitting larger than 30 meV. In addition, normal strain proves to be an effective approach to regulate valley splitting through interlayer coupling.