Spin-polarized transport properties of the FeCl₂/WSe₂/FeCl₂van der Waals heterostructure

The discovery of the giant magnetoresistance effect has led to the rapid development of spintronics. Although the half-metals can provide a 100% spin polarization rate and significantly improved giant magnetoresistance, the materials with low Curie temperatures present challenges for their use at room temperature. In an attempt to identify the half-metallic material with high Curie temperatures for spintronics, this study investigates a van der Waals heterostructure with vertically integrated FeCl2/WSe2/FeCl2. The spin-polarized transport properties of the device based on the heterostructure studied by the density function theory combined with nonequilibrium Green's function reveal comprehensive spintronics functions, including giant magnetoresistance, spin filtering, and negative differential resistance effect. The mechanism of the negative differential resistance effect has further been elucidated by the band alignment of the heterostructure under different biases within the bias window.