Magnetic i-MXene: a new class of multifunctional two-dimensional materials

Based on density functional theory calculations, we investigated the two-dimensional in-plane ordered MXene (i-MXenes), focusing particularly on the magnetic properties. It is observed that robust two-dimensional magnetism can be achieved by alloying nonmagnetic MXene with magnetic transition metal atoms. Moreover, both the magnetic ground states and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy of the i-MXenes can be effectively manipulated by strain, indicating strong piezomagnetic effect. Further studies on the transport properties reveal that i-MXenes provide an interesting playground to realize large thermoelectric response, antiferromagnetic topological insulator, and spin-gapless semiconductors. Thus, i-MXenes are a new class of multifunctional two-dimensional magnetic materials which are promising for future spintronic applications.