Electrically Controllable van der Waals Antiferromagnetic Spin Valve

We propose a spin valve that is based on van der Waals antiferromagnetism and fully electrically controlled. The device is composed of two antiferromagnetic terminals that allow for vertical bias control and a linked central scattering potential region. The magnetoresistance varies significantly when the bias orientations in two terminals are switched from parallel to antiparallel because this switch induces a mismatch of the bands for the same spin projection in different parts of the system. It is shown from density functional calculations that bilayer graphene encapsulated by two atomic layers of Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$ provides a material platform to realize the antiferromagnetism, which is robust against the required vertical electric fields.