APL Materials (Sep 2023)

Modulating above-room-temperature magnetism in Ga-implanted Fe5GeTe2 van der Waals magnets

  • Yanan Yuan,
  • Daxiang Liu,
  • Jingjing Yu,
  • Guanhua Zhang,
  • Xiang Chen,
  • Ruiqi Liu,
  • Siyu Wang,
  • Fangfang Pei,
  • Long Wei,
  • Zhi Li,
  • Junming Guo,
  • Shouguo Wang,
  • Zhaoliang Liao,
  • Wensheng Yan,
  • Ziqiang Qiu,
  • Mengmeng Yang,
  • Qian Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0168468
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 9
pp. 091101 – 091101-8

Abstract

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The creation of van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets with tunable Curie temperature (TC) and magnetic anisotropy is essential in developing vdW magnet-based devices. Here, we report an effective and reliable method for modulating the magnetic properties of vdW Fe5GeTe2 by site-specific Ga+ implantation. In this study, we report an easy axis in the ab-plane for bulk Fe5GeTe2 (TC = 310 K) and an axis out of the plane for thin Fe5GeTe2 flakes (TC = 290 K). Combining element-resolved photoemission electron microscopy and spatially resolved magneto-optic Kerr microscopy, we find that the implantation of a tiny amount of 10−3 Ga+·Å−3 in Fe5GeTe2 greatly enhances the TC from 290 to 360 K and switches the magnetic easy axis from the out-of-plane c axis to the ab-plane. The room-temperature x-ray magnetic circular dichroism signal is enhanced from 0% to 9% at an implantation level of 10−2 Ga+·Å−3. These results provide new opportunities for tailoring the magnetic properties of vdW materials beyond room temperature.