Nature Communications 11: 3729 (2020)
Lixing Kang#, Chen Ye#, Xiaoxu Zhao#, Xieyu Zhou#, Junxiong Hu, Qiao Li, Dan Liu, Chandreyee Manas Das, Jiefu Yang, Dianyi Hu, Jieqiong Chen, Xun Cao, Yong Zhang, Manzhang Xu, Jun Di, Dan Tian, Pin Song, Govindan Kutty, Qingsheng Zeng, Qundong Fu, Ya Deng, Jiadong Zhou, Ariando Ariando, Feng Miao, Guo Hong, Yizhong Huang, Stephen J. Pennycook, Ken-Tye Yong*, Wei Ji*, Xiao Renshaw Wang* & Zheng Liu*
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) magnets with intrinsic ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic (FM/AFM) ordering are highly desirable for future spintronic devices. However, the direct growth of their crystals is in its infancy. Here we report a chemical vapor deposition approach to controllably grow layered tetragonal and non-layered hexagonal FeTe nanoplates with their thicknesses down to 3.6 and 2.8 nm, respectively. Moreover, transport measurements reveal these obtained FeTe nanoflakes show a thickness-dependent magnetic transition. Antiferromagnetic tetragonal FeTe with the Néel temperature (TN) gradually decreases from 70 to 45 K as the thickness declines from 32 to 5 nm. And ferromagnetic hexagonal FeTe is accompanied by a drop of the Curie temperature (TC) from 220 K (30 nm) to 170 K (4 nm). Theoretical calculations indicate that the ferromagnetic order in hexagonal FeTe is originated from its concomitant lattice distortion and Stoner instability. This study highlights its potential applications in future spintronic devices.
