Abstract
Reduced dimensionality and interlayer coupling in van der Waals materials gives rise to fundamentally different electronic1, optical2 and many-body quantum3,4,5 properties in monolayers compared with the bulk. This layer-dependence permits the discovery of novel material properties in the monolayer regime. Ferromagnetic order in two-dimensional materials is a coveted property that would allow fundamental studies of spin behaviour in low dimensions and enable new spintronics applications6,7,8. Recent studies have shown that for the bulk-ferromagnetic layered materials CrI3 (ref. 9) and Cr2Ge2Te6 (ref. 10), ferromagnetic order is maintained down to the ultrathin limit at low temperatures. Contrary to these observations, we report the emergence of strong ferromagnetic ordering for monolayer VSe2, a material that is paramagnetic in the bulk11,12. Importantly, the ferromagnetic ordering with a large magnetic moment persists to above room temperature, making VSe2 an attractive material for van der Waals spintronics applications.
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Acknowledgements
This project was primarily supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMR-1701390. V.K., R.D. and M.-H.P. also acknowledge support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award No. DE-FG02-07ER46438 and thank H. Srikanth for useful discussions.
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M.Bo., S.K., H.C.D. and Y.M. synthesized samples and characterized and analysed the samples by STM, XPS and UPS. V.K. and R.D. performed magnetic characterization. T.E. carried out the L-MOKE experiments. H.R.G. performed Raman characterization. M.-H.P. and M.Ba. directed the research and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion of the data and commented on the manuscript.
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Bonilla, M., Kolekar, S., Ma, Y. et al. Strong room-temperature ferromagnetism in VSe2 monolayers on van der Waals substrates. Nature Nanotech 13, 289â293 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0063-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0063-9
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