Proximity‐Coupling‐Induced Significant Enhancement of Coercive Field and Curie Temperature in 2D van der Waals Heterostructures

• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202002032
• Publication Date: 2020-08-28T12:56:49Z
• Authors: Luman Zhang; Xinyu Huang; Hongwei Dai; Mingshan Wang; Hui Cheng; Lei Tong; Zheng Li; Xiaotao Han; Xia Wang; Lei Ye; Junbo Han
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy

AbstractMagnetism in 2D has long been the focus of condensed matter physics due to its important applications in spintronic devices. A particularly promising aspect of 2D magnetism is the ability to fabricate 2D heterostructures with engineered optical, electrical, and quantum properties. Recently, the discovery of intrinsic ferromagnetisms in atomic thick materials has provided a new platform for investigations of fundamental magnetic physics. In contrast to 2D CrI3 and Cr2Ge2Te6 insulators, itinerant ferromagnetic Fe3GeTe2 (FGT), which has a larger intrinsic perpendicular anisotropy, higher Curie temperature (TC), and relatively better stability, is a promising candidate for achieving permanent room‐temperature ferromagnetism through interface or component engineering. Here, it is shown that the ferromagnetic properties of FGT thin flakes can be modulated through coupling with a FePS3. The magneto‐optical Kerr effect results show that the TC of FGT is improved by more than 30 K and that the coercive field is increased by ≈100% due to the proximity coupling effect, which changes the spin textures of FGT at the interface. This work reveals that antiferromagnet/ferromagnet coupling is a promising way to engineer the magnetic properties of itinerant 2D ferromagnets, which paves the way for applications in advanced magnetic spintronic and memory devices.