The large variety of 2D materials and their co-integration in van der Waals heterostructures enable innovative device engineering. In addition, their atomically thin nature promotes the design of artificial materials by proximity effects that originate from short-range interactions. Such a designer approach is particularly compelling for spintronics, which typically harnesses functionalities from thin layers of magnetic and non-magnetic materials and the interfaces between them. Here we provide an overview of recent progress in 2D spintronics and opto-spintronics using van der Waals heterostructures. After an introduction to the forefront of spin transport research, we highlight the unique spin-related phenomena arising from spin–orbit and magnetic proximity effects. We further describe the ability to create multifunctional hybrid heterostructures based on van der Waals materials, combining spin, valley and excitonic degrees of freedom. We end with an outlook on perspectives and challenges for the design and production of ultracompact all-2D spin devices and their potential applications in conventional and quantum technologies.

种类繁多的二维材料及其在范德瓦尔斯异质结构中的共同整合使创新的设备工程成为可能。此外，它们的原子级超薄特性通过源自短程相互作用的邻近效应促进了人造材料的设计。这种设计方法对自旋电子学特别有吸引力，自旋电子学通常利用磁性和非磁性材料薄层以及它们之间的界面的功能。在这里，我们概述了使用范德瓦尔斯异质结构的二维自旋电子学和光自旋电子学的最新进展。在介绍了自旋输运研究的前沿之后，我们重点介绍了自旋轨道和磁邻近效应引起的独特的自旋相关现象。我们进一步描述了创建基于范德瓦尔斯材料的多功能混合异质结构的能力，结合了自旋、谷和激子自由度。最后，我们展望了超紧凑全二维自旋器件的设计和生产及其在传统和量子技术中的潜在应用的前景和挑战。