2D Materials – Physics of
van der Waals [hetero]structures

Exfoliated two-dimensional ferromagnets probed by photoelectron spectroscopy

Principal investigators

1. Lukasz Plucinski, Forschungszentrum Juelich [webpage]
2. Markus Morgenstern, RWTH Aachen University [webpage]

Abstract

This project employs surface science techniques to study the spin resolved electronic properties of van-der-Waals type two-dimensional ferro- and antiferromagnets prepared by exfoliation. In particular, photoelectron microscopy and spectroscopy will be used. The atomically thin flakes are exfoliated in a glove box, encapsulated with graphene and transferred to the measurement setups. By mapping the band structure and imaging domain patterns, we firstly tackle open issues resulting from the pioneering, mostly macroscopic experiments. In the longer perspective, we aim to experimentally establish tunable versions of theoretically well-studied magnetic 2D models such as Heisenberg, Ising or XY model.

Within this project we primarily aim to probe microflakes of Fe₃GeTe₂ sandwiched between graphene for protection. We will employ circular dichroic photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) to map domain patterns and once few µm domains are demonstrated, we will use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with micrometer beamspot (µ-ARPES) to map the magnetization-direction dependent band structure.