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The ability to tune and control the magnetic phases of two-dimensional (2D) nanomagnets at room temperature is indispensable for the development of future spintronics and low-dimensional spin circuits. In this work, a first-principles-based investigation combined with a Monte Carlo simulation based on a 2D Ising model is used to investigate the electronic and magnetic behaviour of a recently discovered 2D material, Cr2Ge2Se6 over a large range of strain and electric field strength. This material offers ferromagnetic antiferromagnetic and semiconductor metallic phase transitions in different regimes. In the presence of strain, a colossal enhancement of the critical temperature (Tc) is observed, from 149 K to 885 K. The application of an electric field allows a further enhancement of the Tc to a value of 919 K, offering a supreme enhancement (~517%), compared to its natural condition. The origin of this behavior can be traced to a super-exchange interaction between the Cr and Se atoms and the intrinsic magnetic anisotropy of Cr2Ge2Se6. The presence of external stimuli engenders spontaneous symmetry breaking with an enhanced magnetic moment (~4.36 /Cr atom), a significant intrinsic spin polarisation (~100%) in a half-metallic regime, and a very high critical temperature. The insights of the current investigation could be useful for future developments in multi-stimuli-assisted room-temperature ferromagnetism and electronic phase control, which are of great significance for future magneto-electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have employed first-principles calculations of density functional theory (DFT) with GGA and GGA+U exchange correlation to study structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of chromium nitride (CrN) in the rock salt (NaCl) structures. The obtained data from DFT calculations is used as an input in high-temperature series expansions (HTSEs) combined with the Padé approximants (PA) method and Monte Carlo simulation (MC) for the Ising model to investigate the magnetic properties of CrN. The obtained results show that CrN is more stable in the antiferromagnetic order, and undergoes structural and magnetic transitions from an antiferromagnetic NaCl structure to a nonmagnetic Pnma phase at 201 GPa. The density of states (DOS) with GGA approach shows that CrN has a metallic behavior in both FM and AFM configurations whereas with GGA+U CrN is semiconductor in AFM and half-metallic in FM order. The Neel temperature (TN) obtained by HTSE and MC is in agreement with available experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]