Transition metal dichalcogenides are promising candidates to show long-range ferromagnetic order in the single-layer limit. Based on ab initio calculations, we report the emergence of a charge density wave (CDW) phase in monolayer 1T-CrTe$_2$. We demonstrate that this phase is the ground state in the single-layer limit at any strain value. We obtain an optical phonon mode of $1.96$ THz that connects CDW phase with the undistorted 1T phase. Localization of the $a_{1g}$ orbital of CrTe$_2$ produces an out-of-plane orientation of the magnetic moments, circumventing the restrictions of the Mermin-Wagner theorem and producing ferromagnetic long-range order in the two-dimensional limit. This orbital-localization is enhanced by the CDW phase. Tensile strain also increases the localization of this orbital driving the system to become ordered. CrTe$_2$ becomes an example of a material where the CDW phase produces the stabilization of the long-range ferromagnetic order. Our results show that both strain and phase switching are mechanisms to control the 2D ferromagnetic order of CrTe$_2$.
In-Plane Ferromagnetism and Critical Dynamics in Alkali-Deficient K$_{1-x}$CrTe$_2$ (with $x \approx$ 0.3) Single Crystals
University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）；PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences（瑞士粒子物理研究所中子与μ子科学中心）；KTH Royal Institute of Technology（瑞典皇家理工学院）；Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper u. Werkstoffforschung（莱布尼茨固体与材料研究所）；University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学）；Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University（冈山大学交叉科学研究所）
Layered materials with robust magnetic ordering have been attracting significant research interest. In recent experiments, a new layered material 1$T$-CrTe$_{2}$ has been synthesized and exhibits ferromagnetism above the room temperature. Here, based on first-principles calculations, we investigate the electronic, magnetic, and transport properties of 1$T$-CrTe$_{2}$, both in the bulk and in the two-dimensional (2D) limit. We show that 1$T$-CrTe$_{2}$ can be stable in the monolayer form, and has a low exfoliation energy. The monolayer structure is an intrinsic ferromagnetic metal, which mainta…
Using full-potential linear augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) and the density functional theory, we have carried out a systematic investigation of the electronic, magnetic, and cohesive properties of the chalcogenide CrTe in three competing structures: rock-salt (RS), zinc blende (ZB) and the NiAs-type (NA) hexagonal. Although the ground state is of NA structure, RS and ZB are interesting in that these fcc-based structures, which can possibly be grown on many semiconductor substrates, exhibit half-metallic phases above some critical values of the lattice parameter. We find that the NA stru…
Utilizing the first-principles density functional theory calculations together with group theory analyses, we systematically investigate the spin order-dependent magneto-optical effect (MOE), anomalous Hall effect (AHE), and anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in a recently discovered two-dimensional room-temperature ferromagnet $1T$-CrTe$_2$. We find that the spin prefers an in-plane direction by the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy calculations. The MOE, AHE, and ANE display a period of $2π/3$ when the spin rotates within the atomic plane, and they are forbidden if there exists a mirror plane …
Intrinsic antiferromagnetism in van der Waals (vdW) monolayer (ML) crystals enriches the understanding regarding two-dimensional (2D) magnetic orders and holds special virtues over ferromagnetism in spintronic applications. However, the studies on intrinsic antiferromagnetism are sparse, owing to the lack of net magnetisation. In this study, by combining spin-polarised scanning tunnelling microscopy and first-principles calculations, we investigate the magnetism of vdW ML CrTe2, which has been successfully grown through molecular beam epitaxy. Surprisingly, we observe a stable antiferromagneti…
Single phase and strained LuMnO3 thin films are discovered to display co-existing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders. A large moment ferromagnetism (approx. 1 muB), which is absent in bulk samples, is shown to display a magnetic moment distribution that is peaked at the highly-strained substrate-film interface. We further show that the strain-induced ferromagnetism and the antiferromagnetic order are coupled via an exchange field, therefore demonstrating strained rare-earth managanite thin films as promising candidate systems for new multifunctional devices.
We use a density-functional-theory (DFT) approach with a modified Becke-Johnson exchange plus local density approximation (LDA) correlation potential (mBJLDA) [semi-local, orbital-independent, producing accurate semiconductor gaps. see F. Tran and P. Blaha, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 226401 (2009)] to investigate the electronic structures of zincblende transition-metal (TM) pnictides and chalcogenides akin to semiconductors. Our results show that this potential does not yield visible changes in wide TM d-t_{2g} bands near the Fermi level, but makes the occupied minority-spin p-bands lower by 0.25~0…
Using first-principles calculations, the electronic and magnetic properties of orthorhombic BaFeO$_{3}$ (BFO) are investigated with local spin density approximation (LSDA). The calculations reveal that at the optimized lattice volume BFO has a lower energy in ferromagnetic state as compared with antiferromagnetic state. At the equilibrium volume, BFO shows metallic behavior, however, under a large tensile strain ($\sim25\%$), BFO shows half-metallic behavior consistent with the integer magnetic moment of $4.0μ_{\rm{B}}$/fu mainly caused by the $t_{2g}$ and $e_{g}$ electrons of Fe. Including a …
From ferromagnetic semiconductor to anti-ferromagnetic metal in epitaxial Cr$_x$Te$_y$ monolayers
University of St Andrews（圣安德鲁斯大学）；STFC Central Laser Facility, Research Complex at Harwell（STFC中央激光设施，哈韦尔研究综合体）；Diamond Light Source（钻石光源）；Universität Bonn（波恩大学）
Based on the first-principles evolutionary materials design, we report a stable boron Kagome lattice composed of triangles in triangles on a two-dimensional sheet. The Kagome lattice can be synthesized on a silver substrate, with selecting Mg atoms as guest atoms. While the isolated Kagome lattice is slightly twisted without strain, it turns into an ideal triangular Kagome lattice under tensile strain. In the triangular Kagome lattice, we find the exotic electronic properties, such as topologically non-trivial flat band near the Fermi energy and half-metallic ferromagnetism, and predict the qu…
Using first-principles calculations within generalized gradient approximation, the electronic and magnetic properties of zinc blende (zb) CrP/MnP superlattice are investigated. The equilibrium lattice constant is calculated to be $5.33\,$Å. The stability of ferromagnetic zb CrP/MnP superlattice against antiferromagnetism is considered and it is found that the ferromagnetic CrP/MnP superlattice is more stable than the antiferromagnetic one. It is shown that at the equilibrium lattice constant the CrP/MnP superlattice does not show any half metallicity mainly due to the minority $t_{2g}$ states …
It is important to spintronics to achieve fully-spin-polarized magnetic materials that are stable and can be easily fabricated. Here, through systematical density-functional-theory investigations, we achieve high and even full spin polarization for carriers in the ground-state phase of CrTe by applying tensile biaxial stress. The resulting strain is tensile in the xy plane and compressive in the z axis. With the in-plane tensile strain increasing, the ferromagnetic order is stable against antiferromagnetic fluctuations, and a half-metallic ferromagnetism is achieved at an in-plane strain of 4.…
Strain-Mediated Lattice Reconstruction Enhances Ferromagnetism in Cr2Ge2Te6/WTe2 van der Waals Heterobilayers
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST)（加泰罗尼亚纳米科学和纳米技术研究所（ICN2），西班牙高等科学研究委员会（CSIC）和巴塞罗那科学与技术研究所（BIST））；Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona（巴塞罗那自治大学）；Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC（巴塞罗那材料科学研究所，西班牙高等科学研究委员会（ICMAB-CSIC））；Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science（电子与光学材料研究中心，日本物质材料研究机构）；Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science（材料纳米结构研究中心，日本物质材料研究机构）；Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Science（保加利亚科学院光学材料与技术研究所）；Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences（保加利亚科学院固体物理研究所）；Quantum Innovation Centre (Q. InC), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)（量子创新中心（Q. InC），新加坡科技研究局（A*STAR））
A two-dimensional (2D) material system with both piezoelectricity and ferromagnetic (FM) order, referred to as a 2D piezoelectric ferromagnetism (PFM), may open up unprecedented opportunities for intriguing physics. Inspired by experimentally synthesized Janus monolayer MoSSe from $\mathrm{MoS_2}$, in this work, the Janus monolayer $\mathrm{CrBr_{1.5}I_{1.5}}$ with dynamic, mechanical and thermal stabilities is predicted, which is constructed from synthesized ferromagnetic $\mathrm{CrI_3}$ monolayer by replacing the top I atomic layer with Br atoms. Calculated results show that monolayer $\mat…
Strain-enhanced edge ferromagnetism and bipolar magnetic semiconducting behavior in Janus graphene nanoribbons
School of Physics and Astronomy, and Key Laboratory of Multiscale Spin Physics (Ministry of Education), Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理与天文学院，多尺度自旋物理教育部重点实验室）；School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University（山东师范大学物理与电子科学学院）
We show that a ferromagnetic (FM) order in the orthorhombic CaRuO3, which is a non-magnetic and iso-structural analog of FM system SrRuO3, can be established and stabilized by the means of tensile epitaxial strain. Investigations on the structural and magnetic property correlations in the CaRuO3 films with different degrees of strain reveal that the FM moment increases with increasing the tensile strain. This is an experimental verification to the theoretical predictions of scaling of the tensile epitaxial strain and the magnetic order in this system. Our studies further establish that the ten…
The septuple-atomic-layer $\mathrm{VSi_2P_4}$ with the same structure of experimentally synthesized $\mathrm{MoSi_2N_4}$ is predicted to be a spin-gapless semiconductor (SGS). In this work, the biaxial strain is applied to tune electronic properties of $\mathrm{VSi_2P_4}$, and it spans a wide range of properties upon the increasing strain from ferromagnetic metal (FMM) to SGS to ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS) to SGS to ferromagnetic half-metal (FMHM). Due to broken inversion symmetry, the coexistence of ferromagnetism and piezoelectricity can be achieved in FMS $\mathrm{VSi_2P_4}$ with stra…
The origin of strain-induced ferromagnetism, which is robust regardless of the type and degree of strain in LaCoO3 (LCO) thin films, is enigmatic despite intensive research efforts over the past decade. Here, by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy with ab initio density functional theory plus U calculations, we report that the ferromagnetism does not emerge directly from the strain itself, but rather from the creation of compressed structural units within ferroelastically formed twin-wall domains. The compressed structural units are magnetically active with the rocksalt-type hi…
Epitaxial strain provides important pathways to control the magnetic and electronic states in transition metal oxides. However, the large strain is usually accompanied by a strong reduction of the oxygen vacancy formation energy, which hinders the direct manipulation of their intrinsic properties. Here using a post-deposition ozone annealing method, we obtained a series of oxygen stoichiometric SrCoO3 thin films with the tensile strain up to 3.0%. We observed a robust ferromagnetic ground state in all strained thin films, while interestingly the tensile strain triggers a distinct metal to insu…
The perovskite rare-earth titanates are model Mott insulators with magnetic ground states that are very sensitive to structural distortions. These distortions couple strongly to the orbital degrees of freedom and, in principle, it should be possible to tune the superexchange and the magnetic transition with strain. We investigate the representative system (Y,La,Ca)TiO$_3$, which exhibits low crystallographic symmetry and no structural instabilities. From magnetic susceptibility measurements of the Curie temperature, we demonstrate direct, reversible and continuous control of ferromagnetism by …
First-principles calculations are used to probe the effects of mechanical strain on the magnetic and optical properties of monolayer (ML) 2H-TaSe$_2$. A complex dependence of these physical properties on strain results in unexpected behavior, such as ferromagnetism under uniaxial, in-plane, tensile strain and a lifting of the Raman-active E' phonon degeneracy. While ferromagnetism is observed under compression along x-axis and expansion along y-axis, no magnetic order occurs when interchanging the strain direction. The calculations show that the magnetic behavior of the system depends on the e…
Diluted magnetic semiconductors possessing intrinsic static magnetism at high temperatures represent a promising class of multifunctional materials with high application potential in spintronics and magneto-optics. In the hexagonal Fe-doped diluted magnetic oxide, 6H-BaTiO$_{3-δ}$, room-temperature ferromagnetism has been previously reported. Ferromagnetism is broadly accepted as an intrinsic property of this material, despite its unusual dependence on doping concentration and processing conditions. However, the here reported combination of bulk magnetization and complementary in-depth local-p…
Nearly 30% increase of the ferromagnetic phase transition temperature has been achieved in strained MnAs nanocrystals embedded in a wurtzite GaAs matrix. Wurtzite GaAs exerts tensile stress on hexagonal MnAs nanocrystals, preventing a hexagonal to orthorhombic structural phase transition, which in the bulk MnAs is combined with the magnetic one. This effect results in a remarkable shift of the magneto-structural phase transition temperature from 313 K in the bulk MnAs to above 400 K in the tensely strained MnAs nanocrystals. This finding is corroborated by the state of the art transmission ele…
Ferromagnetic insulators play a crucial role in the development of low-dissipation quantum magnetic devices for spintronics. Epitaxial LaCoO3 thin film is a prominent ferromagnetic insulator, in which the robust ferromagnetic ordering emerges owing to epitaxial strain. Whereas it is evident that strong spin-lattice coupling induces ferromagnetism, the reported ferromagnetic properties of epitaxially strained LaCoO3 thin films were highly consistent. For example, even under largely modulated degree of strain, the reported Curie temperatures of epitaxially strained LaCoO3 thin films lie within 8…
Ab initio Prediction of Mechanical, Electronic, Magnetic and Transport Properties of Bulk and Heterostructure of a Novel Fe-Cr based Full Heusler Chalcogenide
Magnetism in lanthanum cobaltite (LCO, LaCoO$_3$) appears to be strongly dependent on strain, defects, and nanostructuring. LCO on strontium titanate (STO, SrTiO$_3$) is a ferromagnet with an interesting strain relaxation mechanism that yields a lattice modulation. However, the driving force of the ferromagnetism is still controversial. Experiments debate between a vacancy-driven or strain-driven mechanism for the ferromagnetism of epitaxial LCO. We found that a weak lateral modulation of the superstructure is sufficient to promote ferromagnetism. We find that ferromagnetism appears under unia…
The field of oxide spintronics can strongly benefit from the establishment of robust ferromagnetic insulators with near room-temperature Curie temperature. Here we investigate the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of atomically-precise epitaxially-strained thin films of the double perovskite La$_2$NiMnO$_6$ (LNMO) grown by off-axis radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. We find that the films retain both a strong insulating behavior and a bulk-like Curie temperature in the order of 280 K, nearly independently from epitaxial strain conditions. These results suggest a prospective im…
Transient Ferromagnetism in Ultrafast Phase Transitions in Perovskites under XUV Irradiation: A Comparative Study of SrTiO3 and KTaO3
Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences（捷克科学院物理研究所）；Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague（布拉格捷克理工大学核科学与物理工程学院）；Institute of Plasma Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences（捷克科学院等离子体物理研究所）
Density functional theory calculations within the generalized gradient approximation are employed to study the ground state of Co2FeAl. Various magnetic configurations are considered to find out its most stable phase. The ferromagnetic ground state of the Co2FeAl is energetically observed with an optimized lattice constant of 5.70 Å. Thereafter, the system was subjected under uniform and non-uniform strains to see their effects on spin polarization (P) and half-metallicity. The effect of spin orbit coupling is considered in the present study. Half-metallicity (and 100 % P) is only retained und…
We show that using epitaxial strain and chemical pressure in orthorhombic YMnO3 and Co-substituted (YMn0.95Co0.05O3) thin films, a ferromagnetic response can be gradually introduced and tuned. These results, together with the measured anisotropy of the magnetic response, indicate that the unexpected observation of ferromagnetism in orthorhombic o-RMnO3 (R= Y, Ho, Tb, etc) films originates from strain-driven breaking of the fully compensated magnetic ordering by pushing magnetic moments away from the antiferromagnetic [010] axis. We show that the resulting canting angle and the subsequent ferro…
Bulk BiMnO$_3$ is the only transition-metal perovskite oxide that is insulating and shows strong ferromagnetism. This distinctive behavior would make it a promising candidate as a magnetoelectric multiferroic if it was also a polar material, but experiments have shown that bulk BiMnO$_3$ has either a very small polarization (below 0.1~$μ$C/cm$^2$) or, most likely, that it is a paraelectric. There is also experimental evidence that the polarization in BiMnO$_3$ {\em films} grown on SrTiO$_3$ can be as high as 20~$μ$C/cm$^2$. Despite of the interest of these behaviors, the diagram of BiMnO$_3$ a…
Two-dimensional (2D) Janus materials hold a great importance in spintronic and valleytronic applications due to their unique lattice structures and emergent properties. They intrinsically exhibit both an in-plane inversion and out-of-plane mirror symmetry breakings, which offer a new degree of freedom to electrons in the material. One of the main limitations in the multifunctional applications of these materials is, however, that, they are usually non-magnetic in nature. Here, using first-principles calculations, we propose to induce magnetic degree of freedom in non-magnetic WSTe via doping w…
The intrinsic magnetic state (ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic) of ultra-thin LaMnO$_3$ films on the mostly used SrTiO$_3$ substrate is a long-existing question under debate. Either strain effect or non-stoichiometry was argued to be responsible for the experimental ferromagnetism. In a recent experiment [Science \textbf{349}, 716 (2015)], one more mechanism, namely the self-doping due to polar discontinuity, was argued to be the driving force of ferromagnetism beyond the critical thickness. Here systematic first-principles calculations have been performed to check these mechanisms in ultra-…
By combining genetic algorithm optimizations, first-principles calculations and the double-exchange model studies, we have unveiled that the exotic insulating ferromagnetism in LaMnO3 thin film originates from the previously unreported G-type d_{3z^2-r^2}/d_{x^2-y^2} orbital ordering. An insulating gap opens as a result of both the orbital ordering and the strong electron-phonon coupling. Therefore, there exist two strain induced phase transitions in the LaMnO3 thin film, from the insulating A-type antiferromagnetic phase to the insulating ferromagnetic phase and then to the metallic ferromagn…
Converse magnetoelectric coupling in artificial multiferroics is generally modelled through three possible mechanisms: charge transfer, strain mediated or ion migration. Here we demonstrate a novel and highly reliable approach, where electrically controlled morphological modifications control the ferromagnetic response of a magnetoelectric heterostructure, specifically FexMn1-x ferromagnetic films on ferroelectric PMN-PT (001) substrates. The ferroelectric PMN-PT substrates present, in correspondence to electrical switching, fully reversible morphological changes at the surface, to which corre…
