Increased Interlayer Exchange in the Layered Magnetic Insulator CrCl<sub>3</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

The family of layered chromium trihalides has been studied for decades due to its rich magnetic phases coupled with insulating properties. The recent isolation of monolayer CrI3 has renewed interest in these materials to incorporate magnetism into 2D van der Waals heterostructures. Transition metal halide magnets have revealed intriguing ground states differing from the bulk when cleaved to thin films but this phenomenon is not yet understood. Here, we use electron tunneling through few-layer crystals of the layered antiferromagnet CrCl3 to probe its magnetic order in the ultrathin limit. By measuring the magnetoresistance in spin filter magnetic tunnel junctions, we measure the interlayer exchange in CrCl3 barriers two to four layers in thickness and find that it is greatly increased in thin films compared to bulk.

*NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: NSF Grant No. 1122374; Center for Integrated Quantum Materials: NSF Grant No. DMR-1231319; EPiQS Initiative: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant No. GBMF4541 & GBMF4411; Ames Laboratory Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358

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Presenters

  • Dahlia Klein

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Physics, MIT

Authors

  • Dahlia Klein

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Physics, MIT

  • David MacNeill

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Physics, MIT

  • Qian Song

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Mingyu Xu

    • Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University
    • Ames Laboratory and Dept. of Phys. and Astro.,, Iowa State Univ.
    • Ames Laboratory & Iowa State University
    • Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory

  • Raquel Ribeiro

    • Universidade Federal do ABC (Brazil), Iowa State University (USA)
    • Universidade Federal do ABC
    • Ames Laboratory & Iowa State University

  • Paul Canfield

    • Ames Laboratory and Dept. of Physics, Iowa State University
    • Ames Laboratory, U.S. DOE, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
    • Ames Laboratory
    • Iowa State University
    • Department of Physics, Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
    • Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University
    • Ames Laboratory/Iowa State University
    • Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory
    • Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
    • Ames Laboratory and Dept. of Phys. and Astro.,, Iowa State Univ.
    • Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics & Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
    • Ames Lab & Dept of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University
    • Department of Physics & Astronomy, Iowa State University
    • Department of physics and astronomy, Iowa State University/Ames Laboratory
    • Physics, Iowa State University/Ames Laboratory
    • Ames Laboratory & Iowa State University
    • Physics, Iowa State University

  • Riccardo Comin

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics
    • Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Stuart Blussom Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia

  • Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

    • Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Dept. of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Physics, MIT