Magnetic Properties of Proton Irradiated Fe2.7GeTe2 Bulk Crystals

Abstract

Abstractvan der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials show promise in being the foundation for future spintronic technology. The magnetic behavior of Fe2.7GeTe2 (FGT), a vdW itinerant ferromagnet, was investigated before and after proton irradiation. Proton irradiation of the sample was carried out at a fluence of 1×1018 cm-2. The magnetization measurements revealed a small increase of saturation magnetization (Ms) of about 4% upon proton irradiation of the sample, in which, the magnetic field was applied parallel to the c-axis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for pristine and irradiated FGT revealed a general decrease in intensity after irradiation for Ge and Te and an increase in peak intensity of unavoidable surface iron oxide. Furthermore, no noticeable change in the Curie temperature (TC =152 K) is observed in temperature dependent magnetization variation. This work signifies the importance of employing protons in tuning the magnetic properties of vdW materials.

High-Quality Ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 for High-Efficiency Electromagnetic Wave Absorption and Shielding with Wideband Radar Cross Section Reduction

“…However, oxidation on the crystal surface mentioned in the previous analysis cannot be avoided, and the change of ligand can induce spin–orbit coupling and magnetic anisotropy . Fortunately, the Tc remains unchanged after surface oxidation; thus, it can provide a strategy for adjusting the magnetic properties of ferromagnetic materials under the conditions of keeping Tc constant. Figure S5 further demonstrated the coercivity (Hc), saturation magnetization (Ms), and remanent magnetization (Mr) at different temperatures of the high-quality FGT single crystal.…”

Proton-fluence dependent magnetic properties of exfoliable quasi-2D van der Waals Cr2Si2Te6 magnet

“…Remarkably, we observe a non-monotonic relationship between the proton fluence and the magnetization (figure 4(a)). As a result, we cannot simply attribute the decrease in magnetization to a destruction of the crystal since the 1 × 10 18 H + /cm −2 data would exhibit the lowest magnetization [6][7][8][9]. Furthermore, the observed trend persists through the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition (figure 4(b)).…”

“…The synthesis of mm-sized CST crystals was conducted as previously reported with the self-flux method starting with Cr powder and Si and Te pieces [18]. The crystals were then irradiated with a 2 MeV proton beam in 1.7 MV Tandetron Accelerator following closely the procedure discussed in [6][7][8][9]. The energy of the beam is kept low enough to avoid damage to the crystal.…”

“…Thus, the robust intralayer properties of these compounds make them excellent candidates for studying the limits of proton irradiation on technologically relevant properties of such functional materials. Particularly, though not exclusively, in the case of ternary transition metal-based vdW chalcogenides such as Fe 2.7 GeTe 2 (FGT) and Mn 3 Si 2 Te 6 (MST), our group and others have found that proton irradiation serves as a nondestructive tool for controlling the magnetic properties of these compounds [6][7][8][9][10][11]. These compounds owe their enhanced magnetization after irradiation to their strong intralayer bonding, robust magnetic character, and their sensitivity to external perturbations.…”