Abstract
The physics of phase transitions in low-dimensional systems has long been a subject of significant research interest. Long-range magnetic order in the strict two-dimensional limit, whose discovery circumvented the Mermin-Wagner theorem, has rapidly emerged as a research focus. However, the demonstration of a non-trivial topological spin textures in two-dimensional limit has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate the out-of-plane electric field breaks inversion symmetry while simultaneously modulating the electronic band structure, enabling electrically tunable spin-orbit interaction for creation and manipulation of topological spin textures in monolayer CrI3. The realization of ideal two-dimensional topological spin textures may offer not only an experimental testbed for probing the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless mechanism, but also potential insights into unresolved quantum phenomena including superconductivity and superfluidity. Moreover, voltage-controlled spin-orbit interaction offers a novel pathway to engineer two-dimensional spin textures with tailored symmetries and topologies, while opening avenues for skyrmion-based next-generation information technologies.
Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information, and have been deposited in the Figshare repository. Other data used in these experiments are available from the authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.
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Acknowledgments
Longjiang Deng (L.J.D.) and Bo Peng (B.P.) acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation of China (52021001). B.P. acknowledges support from the Sichuan Provincial Outstanding Youth Science Foundation Project (2025NSFJQ0018) and the “Hundred Talents Program” Cultivation Project of UESTC (A1098531023601549). H.P.L. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation of China (51972046). L.J.D. acknowledges support from Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department (Grant No. 99203070). P. Y was supported by the National Key R&D Program under Contract No. 2022YFA1402802 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grants No. 12374103 and No. 12074057).
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Bo Peng (B.P.) and Longjiang Deng (L.J.D.) conceived and designed the project, supervising all aspects. Y.L.W. prepared the samples and performed the RMCD measurements and Raman measurements assisted by B.P., and analyzed and interpreted the results assisted by C.D.Y., H.P.L., P.H.Z., J.L.X., D.F.L, L.B.Z., P.Y., H.Z.G., R.C.C., L.J.D., and B.P.. Z.Z.Z. and P.Y. performed the theory calculations. Y.L.W. and B.P. wrote the paper with input from all authors. All authors discussed the results.
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Wu, Y., Peng, B., Zeng, Z. et al. Voltage-controlled topological spin textures in the monolayer limit. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69800-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69800-7
