Two-dimensional (2D) materials hosting antiferromagnetic skyrmions are promising candidates for next-generation small-scale skyrmionic storage devices. However, the realization of antiferromagnetic skyrmions in intrinsic 2D materials, particularly in the widely studied $M{A}_2$-like ($M$ = transition metals; $A$ = chalcogen or halogen elements) materials, remains elusive. Here, we theoretically demonstrate the emergence and strain modulation of 2D antiferromagnetic skyrmion crystal (AF-SkX) in Janus V-based dihalides $\mathrm{V}\mathit{XY} (X,Y=\text{Cl,}\text{Br,}\text{I};X\ne Y)$. The interplay between antiferromagnetic exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) gives rise to the AF-SkX phase in $\mathrm{V}X\mathrm{I}$, which consists of three antiferromagnetically coupled skyrmion crystals. Furthermore, tensile strain significantly reduces the effective magnetic field strength required to realize AF-SkX and broadens the field range over which AF-SkX appears, increasing both the feasibility and stability of AF-SkX in VClI. Our findings expand the family of 2D materials capable of hosting AF-SkX and provide perspectives for engineering antiferromagnetic skyrmions in 2D materials.

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• First-principles calculations
• Magnetic interactions
• Magnetic texture
• Topological materials
• 2-dimensional systems
• Antiferromagnets
• Chiral magnets
• Janus materials
• Triangular lattice
• Density functional theory
• Micromagnetic modeling
• Monte Carlo methods