Large Orbital Magnetic Moment and Strong Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in Heavily Intercalated Fe$_{x}$TiS$_2$

TL;DR

This study reveals that heavily intercalated Fe$_x$TiS$_2$ exhibits a large orbital magnetic moment and strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, driven by Fe valence state and spin-orbit coupling effects.

Contribution

The paper provides microscopic insights into the origin of magnetic anisotropy in Fe$_x$TiS$_2$ through XAS and XMCD measurements, highlighting the role of Fe valence and orbital moments.

Findings

Fe is in a 2+ valence state with a large orbital magnetic moment.

Ti remains in an itinerant electronic state, indicating electron transfer.

The strong magnetic anisotropy is attributed to Fe's orbital moment and spin-orbit interaction.

Abstract

Titanium disulfide TiS$_2$, which is a member of the layered transition-metal dichalcogenides with the 1T-CdI$_2$-type crystal structure, is known to exhibit a wide variety of magnetism through intercalating various kinds of transition-metal atoms of different concentrations. Among them, Fe-intercalated titanium disulfide Fe$_x$TiS$_2$ is known to be ferromagnetic with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and large coercive fields ($H_\text{c}$). In order to study the microscopic origin of the magnetism of this compound, we have performed X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements on single crystals of heavily intercalated Fe$_x$TiS$_2$ ($x\sim0.5$). The grown single crystals showed a strong PMA with a large $H_\text{c}$ of $\mu_0H_\text{c} \simeq 1.0\ \text{T}$. XAS and XMCD spectra showed that Fe is fully in the valence states of 2+ and that Ti is in an itinerant electronic state, indicating electron transfer from the intercalated Fe atoms to the host TiS$_2$ bands. The Fe$^{2+}$ ions were shown to have a large orbital magnetic moment of $\simeq 0.59\ \mu_\text{B}\text{/Fe}$, to which, combined with the spin-orbit interaction and the trigonal crystal field, we attribute the strong magnetic anisotropy of Fe$_x$TiS$_2$.