Room-temperature two-dimensional multiferroic metal with voltage-controllable magnetic order

Nature Materials (2026)Cite this article Realizing two-dimensional multiferroics with robust magnetoelectric coupling for electric-field-controlled magnetism at room temperature poses substantial challenges, as ferroelectricity and magnetism inherently conflict. Here we report air-stable bilayer CrTe2 that exhibits intrinsic room-temperature multiferroicity. Structural and magnetic characterization reveals an alternating ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic bilayer architecture, driven by interlayer charge transfer that spontaneously breaks inversion symmetry and generates a switchable out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization. Scanning probe microscopy confirms the non-volatile control of magnetization states with an electric field, enabling electrical writing and magnetic reading functionalities. This mechanism, rooted in interlayer charge transfer, rather than conventional spin-orbit coupling, provides a foundation for engineering multiferroics with layered systems. The demonstration of a two-dimensional multiferroic material with magnetoelectric coupling under ambient conditions provides opportunities for energy-efficient memory devices and quantum sensing technologies.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutRelevant data that support the key findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. 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Y.D. acknowledges the Beijing High Innovation Plan (grant no. 202504841020) and the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (grant no. Z251100000725001). The authors acknowledge Quantum Scale Co., Ltd. for technical support in atomic force microscope experiments.These authors contributed equally: Dacheng Tian, Shulin Zhong, Jianyu Dong.Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaDacheng Tian, Jianyu Dong, Song Zhou, Yu Wang, Peng Cheng, Yiqi Zhang, Baojie Feng & Lan ChenSchool of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaShulin Zhong & Yunhao LuSchool of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaDacheng Tian, Jianyu Dong, Song Zhou, Peng Cheng, Yiqi Zhang, Baojie Feng & Lan ChenOxford Instruments Technology China, Beijing, ChinaZhiwen LiuNational Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, ChinaKai Chen & Wenhua ZhangAnhui Key Laboratory of Low Energy Quantum Materials and Devices, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, ChinaLiang CaoSongshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, ChinaXiaoyue He, Xiu Li & Tengyu GuoSchool of Physics, Beihang University, Beijing, ChinaKunrong Du, Haifeng Feng & Yi DuTsientang Institute for Advanced Study, Zhejiang, ChinaKehui WuEastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, ChinaSuhuai WeiSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarL. Chen proposed and conceived this project. D.T., J.D., S. Zhou and Z.L. contributed to the experiments under the supervision of L. Chen and Y.D. The theoretical model was provided by Y.L., and S. Zhong performed calculations under the supervision of Y.L. Help with data analysis was provided by K.C., W.Z., L. Cao, X.H., T.G., K.D., H.F., Y.W., K.W., P.C., S.W. and B.F. The manuscript was written by D.T., S. Zhong, Y.L. and L. Chen, with input and comments from all co-authors.Correspondence to Yi Du, Yunhao Lu or Lan Chen.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Materials thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary Figs. 1–16, Discussion and Table 1.Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsTian, D., Zhong, S., Dong, J. et al. Room-temperature two-dimensional multiferroic metal with voltage-controllable magnetic order. Nat. Mater. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02537-2Download citationReceived: 03 June 2025Accepted: 10 February 2026Published: 09 March 2026Version of record: 09 March 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02537-2Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative