R&D: Robust Ferromagnetism in Wafer-Scale Monolayer and Multilayer Fe3GeTe2

npj 2D Materials and Applications has published an article written by Ryan Roemer, Chong Liu, and Ke Zou, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada, and Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Abstract: “Monolayer iron germanium telluride Fe₃GeTe₂, one of the typical two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials, hitherto, has only been studied by exfoliated micron-sized samples. We achieve high-quality wafer-scale growth of thin Fe₃GeTe₂ films by molecular beam epitaxy, greatly expanding the types of characterization tools employable and providing the possibility for its integration in devices like consumer electronics. Thickness-dependent transport measurements are used to characterize and probe for magnetic order. Ferromagnetic states exist in 1–10 layer thick Fe₃GeTe₂, with Curie temperatures ranging from ~75 K in one layer samples to above 175 K in ten layer samples. A single ferromagnetic phase with significant magnetic anisotropy is revealed for all layer numbers. We submit the capability of synthesizing, wafer-scale Fe₃GeTe₂ as an essential step towards its fulfillment in any applications involving magnetism, such as spintronics.“