1 research outputs found
Room Temperature Intrinsic Ferromagnetism in Epitaxial Manganese Selenide Films in the Monolayer Limit
Monolayer
van der Waals (vdW) magnets provide an exciting opportunity
for exploring two-dimensional (2D) magnetism for scientific and technological
advances, but the intrinsic ferromagnetism has only been observed
at low temperatures. Here, we report the observation of room temperature
ferromagnetism in manganese selenide (MnSe<sub><i>x</i></sub>) films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Magnetic and structural
characterization provides strong evidence that, in the monolayer limit,
the ferromagnetism originates from a vdW manganese diselenide (MnSe<sub>2</sub>) monolayer, while for thicker films it could originate from
a combination of vdW MnSe<sub>2</sub> and/or interfacial magnetism
of α-MnSe(111). Magnetization measurements of monolayer MnSe<sub><i>x</i></sub> films on GaSe and SnSe<sub>2</sub> epilayers
show ferromagnetic ordering with a large saturation magnetization
of ∼4 Bohr magnetons per Mn, which is consistent with the density
functional theory calculations predicting ferromagnetism in monolayer
1T-MnSe<sub>2</sub>. Growing MnSe<sub><i>x</i></sub> films
on GaSe up to a high thickness (∼40 nm) produces α-MnSe(111)
and an enhanced magnetic moment (∼2×) compared to the
monolayer MnSe<sub><i>x</i></sub> samples. Detailed structural
characterization by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM),
scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and reflection high energy electron
diffraction (RHEED) reveals an abrupt and clean interface between
GaSe(0001) and α-MnSe(111). In particular, the structure measured
by STEM is consistent with the presence of a MnSe<sub>2</sub> monolayer
at the interface. These results hold promise for potential applications
in energy efficient information storage and processing