Emergent Intrinsic Ferromagnetism in Two-Dimensional Trigonal Rhodium Oxide

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals single crystals with long-range magnetic order are the precondition and urgent task for developing a 2D spintronics device. In contrast to graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, the study of 2D single-crystal metal oxides with intrinsic ferromagnetic properties remains a huge challenge. Here, we report a large-size trigonal single-crystal rhodium oxide (SC-Tri-RhO2), with crystal parameters of a = b = 3.074 Å, c = 6.116 Å, and a space group of P3̅m1 (164), exhibiting strong ferromagnetism (FM) at a rather high temperature. Furthermore, theoretical calculations suggest that the ferromagnetism in SC-Tri-RhO2 originates from spin splitting near the Fermi level, and the total magnetic moment is contributed mainly by the Rh atom