Van der Waals materials with long-range magnetic order show a range of correlated phenomena that could be of use in the development of optoelectronic and spintronic applications. Magnetically ordered van der Waals semiconductors with spin-polarized currents are, in particular, sensitive to external stimuli such as strain, electrostatic fields, magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. Their combination of two-dimensional magnetic order, semiconducting band structure and weak dielectric screening means that these materials could be used to create novel atomically thin opto-spintronic devices. Here we explore the development of van der Waals opto-spintronics. We examine the interplay between optical, magnetic and electronic excitations in van der Waals magnetic semiconductors, and explore the control of their magnetization via external stimuli. We consider fabrication and passivation strategies for the practical handling and design of opto-spintronic devices. We also explore potential opto-spintronic device architectures and applications, which include magnonics, quantum transduction, neuromorphic computing and non-volatile memory.

具有长程磁序的范德华材料表现出一系列相关现象，可用于光电和自旋电子应用的开发。具有自旋极化电流的磁有序范德华半导体对应变、静电场、磁场和电磁辐射等外部刺激特别敏感。它们结合了二维磁序、半导体能带结构和弱介电屏蔽，意味着这些材料可用于制造新型原子薄光自旋电子器件。在这里，我们探讨范德华光自旋电子学的发展。我们研究了范德华磁性半导体中光、磁和电子激发之间的相互作用，并探索通过外部刺激对其磁化的控制。我们考虑光自旋电子器件的实际处理和设计的制造和钝化策略。我们还探索潜在的光自旋电子器件架构和应用，包括磁振子学、量子传导、神经形态计算和非易失性存储器。