Magnetic proximity in a van der Waals heterostructure of magnetic insulator and graphene

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that stacking a ferromagnetic insulator with graphene induces out-of-plane magnetic interactions, significantly affecting spin transport and enabling potential applications in spintronics and quantum devices.

Contribution

It provides experimental and theoretical evidence of proximity-induced ferromagnetism and anisotropic spin textures in graphene within a van der Waals heterostructure.

Findings

Proximity-induced ferromagnetic exchange in graphene.

Modification of spin transport due to magnetic anisotropy.

Enhanced lifetime of perpendicular spins.

Abstract

Engineering two-dimensional material heterostructures by combining the best of different materials in one ultimate unit can offer a plethora of opportunities in condensed matter physics. Here, in the van der Waals heterostructures of the ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6 and graphene, our observations indicate an out-of-plane proximity-induced ferromagnetic exchange interaction in graphene. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Cr2Ge2Te6 results in significant modification of the spin transport and precession in graphene, which is ascribed to the proximity-induced exchange interaction. Furthermore, the observation of a larger lifetime for perpendicular spins in comparison to the in-plane counterpart suggests the creation of a proximity-induced anisotropic spin texture in graphene. Our experimental results and density functional theory calculations open up opportunities for the realization of proximity-induced magnetic interactions and spin filters in 2D material heterostructures and can form the basic building blocks for future spintronic and topological quantum devices.