Magnetism in ultrathin layered materials
Date
Monday, January 13, 2020 10:00 - 11:00
Speaker
David MacNeill (MIT)
Location
Mondi Seminar Room 2, Central Building
Series
Seminar/Talk
Tags
Physical Sciences Seminar
Host
Johannes Fink
Contact
Layered magnetic insulators that can be exfoliated to the ultrathin limit are highly desirable, as we can potentially create topological states and study electron correlations by incorporating them in van der Waals heterostructures. Such materials were finally realized in 2017 with the isolation of monolayer CrI3 and bilayer CrGeTe3. However, this field is in its infancy and few-layer films have complex properties different from bulk, such as the ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition in CrI3. In this talk, I will discuss our isolation and characterization of the few-layer chrome trihalides CrI3 and CrCl3. We combine electron tunneling, magneto-optical, and Raman measurements, to arrive at a consistent picture correlating structural and magnetic properties of the films. The focus will be on electronic detection of magnetic states in CrI3 and CrCl3 using spin-filter tunneling of electrons through magnetic insulating barriers.