Exploratory Search of New Magnetic Phases via Transition Metal Substitutions in PtTe2
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Date
2021-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials is a very new field that has emerged in the last few years. 2D magnetism was previously not believed to be possible, but its discovery has opened up the field to find novel 2D magnets with interesting applications. Some of these applications include memory storage, sensors, and other sorts of devices. At this point, there are issues with many materials. The application of these materials is limited by a very low Curie temperature T¬C or their propensity for oxidation, especially when exfoliated into very thin flakes. Here, we have explored the substitution of many transition metals into the PtTe2 lattice, as this material is known to be a robust air-stable van der Waals material even in the monolayer form. Characterization of these materials was performed via X-Ray Diffraction. We have found that Ni, V, and Mn do not readily substitute with Pt in PtTe2. On the other hand, up to 0.45 equivalents of chromium can substitute with Pt to form homogenous alloys of CrxPt1-xTe2 (0.05<x<0.45). Analysis of magnetic susceptibility in these powders shows a ferromagnetic ordering temperature that increases with increasing Cr substitution, and Cr0.45Pt0.55Te2 has a TC of 220K. We have been able to exfoliate the bulk materials into single-layer and few-layer flakes onto SiO2/Si substrates which have been confirmed through atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging. All of our synthesized CrxPt1-xTe2 materials have shown to be very air-stable, even upon exfoliation to few layers. Our results suggest that CrxPt1-xTe2 is a very promising layered magnetic material and may have potential in a variety of applications.
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Keywords
Exploratory Synthesis, Magnetic Materals, Ferromagnetism, 2D magnetism, Layered Materials, Exfoliation