Magnetic anisotropy of the single-crystalline ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6

TL;DR

This paper investigates the magnetic anisotropy of single-crystalline Cr2Ge2Te6, revealing its easy axis along the c-axis and confirming its insulating nature below Curie temperature, highlighting its potential for spintronics and topological applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy in single-crystalline Cr2Ge2Te6 and clarifies its magnetic easy axis and insulating properties.

Findings

Magnetic easy axis along the c-axis

CGT is insulating below Curie temperature

Potential for integration with topological insulators

Abstract

Cr2Ge2Te6 (CGT), a layered ferromagnetic insulator, has attracted a great deal of interest recently owing to its potential for integration with Dirac materials to realize the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) and to develop novel spintronics devices. Here, we study the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy of single-crystalline CGT and determine that the magnetic easy axis is directed along the c-axis in its ferromagnetic phase. In addition, CGT is an insulator below the Curie temperature. These properties make CGT a potentially promising candidate substrate for integration with topological insulators for the realization of the high-temperature QAHE.