  The discovery of van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibiting non-trivial and
tunable magnetic interactions at room temperature can give rise to exotic
magnetic states, which are not readily attainable with conventional materials.
Such vdW magnets can provide a unique platform for studying new magnetic
phenomena and realising magnetization dynamics for energy-efficient and
non-volatile spintronic memory and logic technologies. Recent developments in
vdW magnets have revealed their potential to enable spin-orbit torque (SOT)
induced magnetization dynamics. However, the deterministic and field-free SOT
switching of vdW magnets at room temperature has been lacking, prohibiting
their potential applications. Here, we demonstrate magnetic field-free and
deterministic SOT switching of a vdW magnet (Co0.5Fe0.5)5GeTe2 (CFGT) at room
temperature, capitalizing on its non-trivial intrinsic magnetic ordering. We
discover a coexistence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders in CFGT at
room temperature, inducing an intrinsic exchange bias and canted perpendicular
magnetism. The resulting canted perpendicular magnetization of CFGT introduces
symmetry breaking, facilitating successful magnetic field-free magnetization
switching in the CFGT/Pt heterostructure devices. Furthermore, the SOT-induced
magnetization dynamics and their efficiency are evaluated using 2nd harmonic
Hall measurements. This advancement opens new avenues for investigating tunable
magnetic phenomena in vdW material heterostructures and realizing field-free
SOT-based spintronic technologies.
