Space-Charge-Limited van der Waals Spin Transistor
Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 040802 – Published 22 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/61lp-6slp
Abstract
Integrating semiconducting and magnetic materials could combine transistorlike operation with nonvolatility and enable architectures such as logic in memory. Here, we employ correlated electrical transport and scanning nitrogen-vacancy center magnetic imaging to elucidate a spin transistor concept that amalgamates vertical and lateral hopping transport inside a 2D antiferromagnetic semiconductor, mechanistically distinct from vertical tunneling devices. Our device, based on a monolayer-bilayer junction in CrSBr, displays giant, gate-tunable magnetoresistance driven by the dual action of electrostatic doping on space-charge-limited lateral conduction and interlayer exchange coupling. Moreover, we visualize a field-trainable, layer-sharing effect that selects between coherent or domain-wall reversal at the spin-flip transition, enabling multilevel, memristive conductance states. Our layer-dependent space charge mechanism for convergent electrical and magnetic control opens opportunities to address limitations in contemporary computing.