Field-Free Current-Induced Magnetization Switching of a Room-Temperature van der Waals Magnet for Neuromorphic Computing.

Spin orbit torque (SOT) has become a promising approach to manipulating magnetization switching. The high-quality interface is essentially desired for SOT performance, which is readily acquired by two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials. Recently, a 2D ferromagnetic material, FeGaTe, has been discovered to possess an above-room-temperature Curie temperature and strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, providing an excellent candidate to build spintronic devices. On the other hand, an external magnetic field is necessary for the SOT-driven deterministic switching, hindering the real applications. Here, we realize field-free SOT switching of FeGaTe at room temperature. Moreover, inspired by the superiority of 2D materials in 3D heterogeneous integration, we explore the potential in the computing in memory. The artificial synapse function is studied and used in the convolutional neural network, achieving a high-accuracy (∼92.8%) pattern recognition. Our work paves the way for magnetic memory and neuromorphic computing.