Proximity-induced ferromagnetism in graphene revealed by anomalous Hall effect

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of proximity-induced ferromagnetism and anomalous Hall effect in graphene coupled with a ferromagnetic YIG film, revealing enhanced spin-orbit coupling and potential for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first measurement of the anomalous Hall effect in graphene induced by proximity to a ferromagnetic insulator, showing large exchange interaction and elevated temperature stability.

Findings

Anomalous Hall conductance of ~0.09(2e2/h) at low temperatures

Measurable anomalous Hall effect up to ~300 K

Evidence of proximity-induced ferromagnetism and enhanced spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

We demonstrate the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in single-layer graphene exchange-coupled to an atomically flat yttrium iron garnet (YIG) ferromagnetic thin film. The anomalous Hall conductance has magnitude of ~0.09(2e2/h) at low temperatures and is measurable up to ~ 300 K. Our observations indicate not only proximity-induced ferromagnetism in graphene/YIG with large exchange interaction, but also enhanced spin-orbit coupling which is believed to be inherently weak in ideal graphene. The proximity-induced ferromagnetic order in graphene can lead to novel transport phenomena such as the quantized AHE which are potentially useful for spintronics.