Merons in Monolayer CrCl₃

Noncollinear spin textures in low-dimensional magnetic systems such as skyrmions, magnetic bobbles and merons have been studied for decades with their extraordinary properties derived from their chirality and topological nature. Here, using first principles and Monto Carlo simulations, we propose that monolayer chromium chloride (CrCl₃) can be a promising candidate to observe paired magnetic vortex type and antivortex type topological defects, which are so-called merons. Through this paper, we demonstrate the existence of vortex and antivortex type meron pairings within the low temperature range (below 5K). Moreover, higher-order combinations of those meron pairs which are similar to the “quadrupole” excitations are also identified. Finally, including the in-plane and out-of-plane external magnetic field, we show the robustness of merons’ pairing and a rich phase space to tune the hybridizations between the ferromagnetism and meron excitations.