Characterization of room-temperature in-plane magnetization in thin flakes of CrTe$_2$ with a single spin magnetometer

TL;DR

This study demonstrates room-temperature in-plane ferromagnetism in thin CrTe$_2$ flakes using a single spin magnetometer, revealing intrinsic magnetic properties and potential for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative magnetic imaging of room-temperature in-plane magnetization in CrTe$_2$ flakes, highlighting its unique magnetic anisotropy and high Curie temperature.

Findings

Room-temperature in-plane magnetization of ~27 kA/m in CrTe$_2$ flakes

Magnetization orientation influenced by magnetocrystalline anisotropy

CrTe$_2$ is the only van der Waals ferromagnet with intrinsic in-plane magnetization above 300 K

Abstract

We demonstrate room-temperature ferromagnetism with in-plane magnetic anisotropy in thin flakes of the CrTe$_2$ van der Waals ferromagnet. Using quantitative magnetic imaging with a single spin magnetometer based on a nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond, we infer a room-temperature in-plane magnetization in the range of $M\sim 27$ kA/m for flakes with thicknesses down to $20$ nm. In addition, our measurements indicate that the orientation of the magnetization is not determined solely by shape anisotropy in micron-sized CrTe$_2$ flakes, which suggest the existence of a non-negligible magnetocrystalline anisotropy. These results make CrTe$_2$ a unique system in the growing family of van der Waals ferromagnets, as it is the only material platform known to date which offers an intrinsic in-plane magnetization and a Curie temperature above $300$ K in thin flakes.