Van der Waals (vdW) magnets and their hetero structures have become a new platform (Interfacial ferromagnetism in 2D antiferromagnetic hetero structures) for exploring strange and surprising magnetic laws.
Even so, combining two different magnetic laws and studying the magnetic proximity at the interface is still unexplored. This can allow changes in the magnetic interaction and establish a dynamic magnetic system.
Now, an international group of researchers from Japan, the United States, Denmark and China have studied the hetero structures of layered antiferromagnets, CrI3 and CrCl3, with perpendicular and in-plane magnetic anisotropy, respectively, reporting findings them in the journal Nature Communications. is December 15, 2022.
The team is led by Professor Yong P. Chen, a senior researcher at Tohoku University Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR). Chen is also a professor at Purdue University and Aarhus University in Denmark. Dr. Guanghui Cheng, an assistant professor at WPI-AIMR who works in Chen’s lab, conducted the experiments for the study.
Chen and his team used magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy to characterize magnetic behavior down to the level of a few atoms in Interfacial ferromagnetism in 2D antiferromagnetic hetero structures.
“Remarkably, we observed interfacial ferromagnetism appearing when these two antiferromagnets were brought together, and the temperature range was much higher than the two components,” Chen said.
The team showed that the outgoing magnetic field was formed in the CrCl3 layer close to the CrI3. The interfacial magnet showed a much better electrical conductivity, in contrast to previously investigated vdW gate magnetic devices (such as controlled doping in the CrI3 bilayer). The new reconstruction is said to be in the form of a heterostructure collapse, allowing for unprecedented charge integration.
“These findings point to an exciting opportunity to explore critical magnetic systems and create new spintronic devices in vdW heterostructures,” added Chen.
