Altermagnetism in parallel-assembled single-atomic magnetic chains

Altermagnetism in parallel-assembled single-atomic magnetic chains

Deping Guo#, Canbo Zong#, Cong Wang, Weihan Zhang, and Wei Ji*

Altermagnetism has recently attracted significant interest in three- and two-dimensional materials, yet its realization in quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) materials remains largely unexplored due to stringent symmetry constraints. Here, we systematically investigated the emergence of altermagnetism in 30 Q1D monolayer prototypes, self-assembled from intra-chain anti-ferrimagnetically coupled XYn single-atomic magnetic chains, using symmetry analysis and high-throughput density functional theory calculations. Symmetry analysis identifies four structural prototypes capable of hosting altermagnetism, which expand to 192 monolayers upon materialization. Our calculations further reveal eight dynamically stable Q1D altermagnets, all belonging the AA-stacked intra-chain AFM coupled β-XY₃ prototype, exhibiting d-wave-like spin splitting. Furthermore, we demonstrate the tunability of altermagnetic properties by varying inter-chain spacing and applying external electric fields. By optimizing these parameters, altermagnetism can be significantly enhanced, with spin splitting reaching several hundred meV in CoTe3, or substantially suppressed, leading to a transition to a nodal-line semiconducting state in CrCl3. These findings establish a diverse and highly tunable family of Q1D altermagnetic candidate materials.

Controllable Synthesis of Submillimeter Ultrathin 2D Ferromagnetic Cr5Te8 Nanosheets by GaTe-Assisted CVD

Controllable Synthesis of Submillimeter Ultrathin 2D Ferromagnetic Cr5Te8 Nanosheets by GaTe-Assisted CVD

Hanxiang Wu, Jianfeng Guo, Hua Xu, Zhaxi Suonan, Shuo Mi, Le Wang, Shanshan Chen, Rui Xu, Wei Ji, Zhihai Cheng, and Fei Pang*

2D non-van der Waals (vdW) Cr5Te8 has attracted widespread research interest for its air stability and thickness-dependent magnetic properties. However, the growth of large-scale ultrathin 2D Cr5Te8 remains challenging. Here, we selected GaTe powder as precursor to supply Te monomers and fabricated submillimeter 2D Cr5Te8 nanosheets. By optimizing the growth temperature and source–substrate distance (DSS), we successfully achieved Cr5Te8 nanosheets with lateral sizes of up to ~0.19 mm and corresponding thicknesses down to ~4.8 nm. The role of GaTe enhances the efficient Te atoms concentration, which promoted the lateral growth of Cr5Te8 nanosheets. Furthermore, our findings reveal the presence of Cr5Te8 nanosheets exhibiting serrated edges and a stacked structure like wedding cakes. Magnetic property measurement revealed the intense out-of-plane ferromagnetism in Cr5Te8, with the Curie temperature (TC) of 172 K. This work paves a way for the controllable growth of the submillimeter ultrathin 2D ferromagnetic crystalline and lays the foundation for the future synthesis of millimeter ultrathin ferromagnets.

Regulated magnetic anisotropy and charge density wave in uniformly fabricated Janus CrTeSe monolayer

Regulated magnetic anisotropy and charge density wave in uniformly fabricated Janus CrTeSe monolayer

Jin-Hua Nie#, Cong Wang#, Mao-Peng Miao#, Kang-Di Niu#, Tao Xie, Ting-Fei Guo, Wen-Hao Zhang, Chao-Fei Liu, Rui-Jing Sun, Jian-Wang Zhou, Jun-Hao Lin, Wei Ji* & Ying-Shuang Fu*

Two-dimensional Janus materials exhibit unique physical properties due to broken inversional symmetries. However, it remains elusive to synthesize Janus monolayer crystals with tailored long-range magnetic orders. Here, we show a 2 ×√𝟑 charge density wave (CDW) transition and regulations of magnetization in a uniform Janus CrTeSe monolayer, selectively selenized from a pristine CrTe2 monolayer using molecular beam epitaxy. Scanning transmission electron microscopy images indicate the high quality and uniformity of the Janus structure. Spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations unveil a robust zigzag antiferromagnetic order and the CDW transition in the CrTeSe monolayer. The one-side selenization breaks the vertical inversion symmetry, rotating the magnetic moment directions to the in-plane direction. The CDW transition opens a gap at the Fermi level and reorients the magnetic moments in tilted directions. Our work demonstrates the construction of large-area Janus structures and the tailoring of electronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional Janus layers.

High-Throughput Discovery of Kagome Materials in Transition Metal Oxide Monolayers

High-Throughput Discovery of Kagome Materials in Transition Metal Oxide Monolayers

Renhong Wang (王人宏), Cong Wang (王聪)*, Ruixuan Li (李睿宣), Deping Guo (郭的坪), Jiaqi Dai (戴佳琦), Canbo Zong (宗灿波), Weihan Zhang (张伟 涵), and Wei Ji (季威)*

Kagome materials are known for hosting exotic quantum states, including quantum spin liquids, charge density waves, and unconventional superconductivity. The search for kagome monolayers is driven by their ability to exhibit neat and well-defined kagome bands near the Fermi level, which are more easily realized in the absence of interlayer interactions. However, this absence also destabilizes the monolayer forms of many bulk kagome materials, posing significant challenges to their discovery. In this work, we propose a strategy to address this challenge by utilizing oxygen vacancies in transition metal oxides within a “1+3” design framework. Through high-throughput computational screening of 349 candidate materials, we identified 12 thermodynamically stable kagome monolayers with diverse electronic and magnetic properties. These materials were classified into three categories based on their lattice geometry, symmetry, band gaps, and magnetic configurations. Detailed analysis of three representative monolayers revealed kagome band features near their Fermi levels, with orbital contributions varying between oxygen 2p and transition metal d states. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the “1+3” strategy, offering a promising approach to uncovering low-dimensional kagome materials and advancing the exploration of their quantum phenomena.

Exploring Potential for Semiconductor to Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator Transitions via Substrate-Induced Structural Modifications in Ti3Se4 Monolayers

Exploring Potential for Semiconductor to Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator Transitions via Substrate-Induced Structural Modifications in Ti3Se4 Monolayers

Zhipeng Song#, Haixia Cheng#, Yun Cao, Qi Zheng, Yurou Guan, Chen Liu, Jierui Huang1 Li Huang, Jiaou Wang, Hui Guo, Guangchao Chen, Chengmin Shen, Shixuan Du, Hongliang Lu*, Wei Ji*, Xiao Lin*, and Hong-Jun Gao

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect in two-dimensional (2D) topological materials has attracted widespread attention due to its potential for dissipationless chiral edge transport without an external magnetic field, which is highly promising for low-power electronic applications. However, identifying materials that exhibit these properties remains particularly challenging, as only a limited number of such materials are known, raising the intriguing question of whether it is possible to induce the QAH effect in materials with ordinary properties through structural modifications. In this work, we grow an unreported 2D titanium selenide (Ti3Se4) on a Cu(111) substrate using molecular beam epitaxy. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy characterizations reveal a brick-like structure. First-principles calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements confirm its composition to be Ti3Se4. Our calculations further demonstrate that monolayer Ti3Se4, in its grown form on Cu(111), has the potential to host the QAH effect. Interestingly, when we examine its freestanding form, the monolayer transitions from a QAH insulator candidate into a conventional semiconductor, despite only minor differences in their atomic structures. This transition enlightens us that subtle lattice adjustments can induce a transition from semiconductor to QAH properties in freestanding Ti3Se4. This discovery provides a potential route to engineering practical materials that may exhibit the QAH effect.