Spin–Phonon Interactions and Anharmonic Lattice Dynamics in Fe3GeTe2

Abstract

Abstract Raman scattering is performed on Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) at temperatures from 8 to 300 K and under pressures from the ambient pressure to 9.43 GPa. Temperature‐dependent and pressure‐dependent Raman spectra are reported. The results reveal respective anomalous softening and moderate stiffening of the two Raman active modes as a result of the increase of pressure. The anomalous softening suggests anharmonic phonon dynamics and strong spin–phonon coupling. Pressure‐dependent density functional theory and phonon calculations are conducted and used to study the magnetic properties of FGT and assign the observed Raman modes, E2g2$E_{2{ m{g}}}^2$ and A1g1$A_{1{ m{g}}}^1$. The calculations proved the strong spin–phonon coupling for the E2g2$E_{2{ m{g}}}^2$ mode. In addition, a synergistic interplay of pressure‐induced reduction of spin exchange interactions and spin–orbit coupling effect accounts for the softening of the E2g2$E_{2{ m{g}}}^2$ mode as pressure increases.

Keywords

• Anharmonic Lattice Dynamics
• DFT calculations
• Spin‐Phonon Interactions
• Spintronic materials, Fe3GeTe2