Bigi Chiara, Jego Cyriack, Polewczyk Vincent, De Vita Alessandro, Jaouen Thomas, Tchouekem Hulerich C, Bertran François, Le Fèvre Patrick, Turban Pascal, Jacquot Jean-François, Miwa Jill A, Clark Oliver J, Jana Anupam, Chaluvadi Sandeep Kumar, Orgiani Pasquale, Cuoco Mario, Leandersson Mats, Balasubramanian Thiagarajan, Olsen Thomas, Hwang Younghun, Jamet Matthieu, Mazzola Federico
Synchrotron SOLEIL, Saint-Aubin, France.
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG-SPINTEC, Grenoble, France.
Nat Commun. 2025 May 14;16(1):4495. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59266-4.
Systems with pronounced spin anisotropy are pivotal in advancing magnetization switching and spin-wave generation mechanisms that are fundamental to spintronic technologies. Quasi-van der Waals ferromagnets like CrTe represent seminal materials in this field, renowned for their delicate balance between frustrated layered geometries and magnetism. Despite extensive investigation, the nature of their magnetic ground state and the mechanism of spin reorientation under external fields and varying temperatures remain contested. Here, we exploit complementary techniques to reveal a previously overlooked magnetic phase in CrTe (δ = 0.25 - 0.50), which we term orthogonal-ferromagnetism. This phase consists of atomically sharp single layers of in-plane and out-of-plane maximally canted ferromagnetic blocks, which differs from the stacking of multiple heterostructural elements required for crossed magnetism. Contrary to earlier reports of gradual spin reorientation in CrTe-based systems, we present evidence for abrupt spin-flop-like transitions. This discovery further highlights CrTe compounds as promising candidates for spintronic and orbitronic applications, opening new pathways for device engineering.
具有显著自旋各向异性的体系对于推动磁化翻转和自旋波产生机制至关重要，而这些机制是自旋电子技术的基础。像CrTe这样的准范德华铁磁体是该领域的开创性材料，以其在受挫层状几何结构和磁性之间的微妙平衡而闻名。尽管进行了广泛的研究，但其磁基态的性质以及在外场和不同温度下自旋重新取向的机制仍存在争议。在这里，我们利用互补技术揭示了CrTe（δ = 0.25 - 0.50）中一个先前被忽视的磁相，我们将其称为正交铁磁性。这个相由原子级尖锐的面内和面外最大倾斜铁磁块的单层组成，这与交叉磁性所需的多个异质结构元件的堆叠不同。与早期关于基于CrTe的体系中自旋逐渐重新取向的报道相反，我们提供了突然的类自旋翻转转变的证据。这一发现进一步凸显了CrTe化合物作为自旋电子和轨道电子应用的有前途的候选材料，为器件工程开辟了新途径。
