No Arabic abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials have attracted much recent interest with unique properties emerging at the few-layer limit. Beyond the reported impacts on the static magnetic properties, the effects of reducing the dimensionality on the magnetization dynamics are also of fundamental interest and importance for 2D device development. In this report, we investigate the spin dynamics in atomically-thin antiferromagnetic FePS3 of varying layer numbers using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. Following the absorption of an optical pump pulse, the time evolution of the antiferromagnetic order parameter is probed by magnetic linear birefringence. We observe a strong divergence in the demagnetization time near the Neel temperature. The divergence can be characterized by a power-law dependence on the reduced temperature, with an exponent decreasing with sample thickness. We compare our results to expectations from critical slowing down and a two-temperature model involving spins and phonons, and discuss the possible relevance of spin-substrate phonon interactions.
Magnetism in two-dimensional materials is not only of fundamental scientific interest but also a promising candidate for numerous applications. However, studies so far, especially the experimental ones, have been mostly limited to the magnetism arising from defects, vacancies, edges or chemical dopants which are all extrinsic effects. Here, we report on the observation of intrinsic antiferromagnetic ordering in the two-dimensional limit. By monitoring the Raman peaks that arise from zone folding due to antiferromagnetic ordering at the transition temperature, we demonstrate that FePS3 exhibits an Ising-type antiferromagnetic ordering down to the monolayer limit, in good agreement with the Onsager solution for two-dimensional order-disorder transition. The transition temperature remains almost independent of the thickness from bulk to the monolayer limit with TN ~118 K, indicating that the weak interlayer interaction has little effect on the antiferromagnetic ordering.
The Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (AFQCP) is investigated by analyzing the two dimensional Hubbard model on the basis of the fluctuation exchange (FLEX) approximation. The phase diagram against the magnetic field and temperature is compared with that obtained in the BCS theory. We discuss the influences of the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation through the quasiparticle scattering, retardation effect, parity mixing and internal magnetic field. It is shown that the FFLO state is stable in the vicinity of AFQCP even though the quasiparticle scattering due to the spin fluctuation is destructive to the FFLO state. The large positive slope dH_{FFLO}/dT and the convex curvature (d^{2}H_{FFLO}/dT^{2} > 0) are obtained, where H_{FFLO} is the critical magnetic field for the second order phase transition from the uniform BCS state to the FFLO state. These results are consistent with the experimental results in CeCoIn_5. The possible magnetic transition in the FFLO state is examined.
We investigate vortex configuration in antiferromagnetic thin discs. It is shown that the vortex acquires oscillatory dynamics with well-defined amplitude and frequency which may be controlled on demand by an alternating spin polarized current. These findings may be useful for the emerging field of antiferromagnetic topological spintronics, once vortex dynamics may be controlled by purely electric means.
The magnetic state of atomically thin semiconducting layered antiferromagnets such as CrI$_3$ and CrCl$_3$ can be probed by forming tunnel barriers and measuring their resistance as a function of magnetic field ($H$) and temperature ($T$). This is possible because the tunneling magnetoresistance originates from a spin-filtering effect sensitive to the relative orientation of the magnetization in different layers, i.e., to the magnetic state of the multilayers. For systems in which antiferromagnetism occurs within an individual layer, however, no spin-filtering occurs: it is unclear whether this strategy can work. To address this issue, we investigate tunnel transport through atomically thin crystals of MnPS$_3$, a van der Waals semiconductor that in the bulk exhibits easy-axis antiferromagnetic order within the layers. For thick multilayers below $Tsimeq 78$ K, a $T$-dependent magnetoresistance sets-in at $sim 5$ T, and is found to track the boundary between the antiferromagnetic and the spin-flop phases known from bulk magnetization measurements. The magnetoresistance persists down to individual MnPS$_3$ monolayers with nearly unchanged characteristic temperature and magnetic field scales, albeit with a different dependence on $H$. We discuss the implications of these finding for the magnetic state of atomically thin MnPS$_3$ crystals, conclude that antiferromagnetic correlations persist down to the level of individual monolayers, and that tunneling magnetoresistance does allow magnetism in 2D insulating materials to be detected even in the absence of spin-filtering.
In cavity quantum electrodynamics, the multiple reflections of a photon between two mirrors defining a cavity is exploited to enhance the light-coupling of an intra-cavity atom. We show that this paradigm for enhancing the interaction of a flying particle with a localized object can be generalized to spintronics based on van der Waals 2D magnets. Upon tunneling through a magnetic bilayer, we find the spin transfer torques per electron incidence can become orders of magnitude larger than $hbar/2$, made possible by electrons multi-reflection path through the ferromagnetic monolayers as an intermediate of their angular momentum transfer. Over a broad energy range around the tunneling resonances, the damping-like spin transfer torque per electron tunneling features a universal value of $frac{hbar}{2} tan{frac{theta}{2}}$, depending only on the angle $theta$ between the magnetizations. These findings expand the scope of magnetization manipulations for high-performance and high-density storage based on van der Waals magnets.