It has long been expected that the coexistence of ferroelectric and ferrovalley polarizations in one magnetic semiconductor could offer the possibility to revolutionize electronic devices. In this study, monolayer and bilayer YI2 are studied. Monolayer YI2 is a ferromagnetic semiconductor and exhibits a valley polarization up to 105 meV. All of the present bilayer YI2 regardless of stacking orders show antiferromagnetic states. Interestingly, the bilayer YI2 with 3R-type stackings shows not only valley polarization but also unexpected ferroelectric polarization, proving the concurrent ferrovalley and multiferroics behaviors. Moreover, the valley polarization of 3R-type bilayer YI2 can be reversed by controlling the direction of ferroelectric polarization through an electric field or manipulating the magnetization direction using an external magnetic field. The amazing phenomenon is also demonstrated in 2D van der Waals LaI2 and GdBr2 bilayers. A design idea of multifunctional devices is proposed based on the concurrent ferrovalley and multiferroics characteristics.
Keywords: antiferromagnetic; ferroelectric; layer stacking; multiferroic; valley polarization.