Layered Antiferromagnetism Induces Large Negative Magnetoresistance in the van der Waals Semiconductor CrSBr

Journal Article · 08 August 2020 · Advanced Materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202003240 · OSTI ID:1803831

Telford, Evan J. ^[1]; Dismukes, Avalon H.  ^[2]; Lee, Kihong ^[2]; Cheng, Minghao ^[2]; Wieteska, Andrew ^[2]; Bartholomew, Amymarie K. ^[2]; Chen, Yu‐Sheng ^[3]; Xu, Xiaodong ^[4]; Pasupathy, Abhay N. ^[2]; Zhu, Xiaoyang ^[2]; Dean, Cory R. ^[2]; Roy, Xavier  ^[2]

---

1. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); OSTI
2. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
3. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
4. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

The recent discovery of magnetism within the family of exfoliatable van der Waals (vdW) compounds has attracted considerable interest in these materials for both fundamental research and technological applications. However, current vdW magnets are limited by their extreme sensitivity to air, low ordering temperatures, and poor charge transport properties. In this work, the magnetic and electronic properties of CrSBr are reported, an air-stable vdW antiferromagnetic semiconductor that readily cleaves perpendicular to the stacking axis. Below its Néel temperature, T_N = 132 ± 1 K, CrSBr adopts an A-type antiferromagnetic structure with each individual layer ferromagnetically ordered internally and the layers coupled antiferromagnetically along the stacking direction. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) reveal that the electronic gap is Δ_E = 1.5 ± 0.2 eV with a corresponding PL peak centered at 1.25 ± 0.07 eV. Using magnetotransport measurements, strong coupling between magnetic order and transport properties in CrSBr is demonstrated, leading to a large negative magnetoresistance response that is unique among vdW materials. These findings establish CrSBr as a promising material platform for increasing the applicability of vdW magnets to the field of spin-based electronics.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357; SC0019443
• OSTI ID: 1803831
• Journal Information: Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials Journal Issue: 37 Vol. 32; ISSN 0935-9648
• Publisher: WileyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English