Layer-dependent mechanical properties and enhanced plasticity in the van der Waals chromium trihalide magnets

Abstract

The mechanical properties of magnetic materials are instrumental for the development of the magnetoelastic theory and the optimization of strain-modulated magnetic devices. In particular, two-dimensional (2D) magnets hold promise to enlarge these concepts into the realm of low-dimensional physics and ultrathin devices. However, no experimental study on the intrinsic mechanical properties of the archetypal 2D magnet family of the chromium trihalides has thus far been performed. Here, we report the room temperature layer-dependent mechanical properties of atomically thin CrI3 and CrCl3, finding that bilayers of CrI3 and CrCl3 have Young's moduli of 62.1 GPa and 43.4 GPa, with the highest sustained strain of 6.09% and 6.49% and breaking strengths of 3.6 GPa and 2.2 GPa, respectively. Both the elasticity and strength of the two materials decrease with increased thickness, which is attributed to a weak interlayer interaction that enables interlayer sliding under low levels of applied load. The mechanical properties observed in the few-layer chromium trihalide crystals provide evidence of outstanding plasticity in these materials, which is qualitatively demonstrated in their bulk counterparts. This study will contribute to various applications of the van der Waals magnetic materials, especially for their use in magnetostrictive and flexible devices.

arXiv commentMain text and supplementary information

References in corpus (17)

• Layer-dependent Ferromagnetism in a van der Waals Crystal down to the Monolayer Limit
• Discovery of intrinsic ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals crystals
• Electrical Control of 2D Magnetism in Bilayer CrI3
• Controlling magnetism in 2D CrI3 by electrostatic doping
• Ising-Type Magnetic Ordering in Atomically Thin FePS3
• Mechanical Properties of Atomically Thin Boron Nitride and the Role of Interlayer Interactions
• Robust Intrinsic Ferromagnetism and Half Semiconductivity in Stable Two-Dimensional Single-Layer Chromium Trihalides
• Elastic properties of hydrogenated graphene
• Elastic Properties of Chemical-Vapor-Deposited Monolayer MoS2, WS2, and Their Bilayer Heterostructures
• Switching 2D Magnetic States via Pressure Tuning of Layer Stacking
• Pressure-controlled interlayer magnetism in atomically thin CrI3
• Single-layer MoS2 mechanical resonators
• Higher-order exchange interactions in two-dimensional magnets
• Mechanical properties of freely suspended atomically thin dielectric layers of mica
• Properties and dynamics of meron topological spin textures in the two-dimensional magnet CrCl3
• InSe: a two-dimensional semiconductor with superior flexibility
• Quantum rescaling, domain metastability and hybrid domain-walls in two-dimensional CrI3 magnets

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Magnetic field effect on topological spin excitations in CrI${}_3$
• Laser-induced topological spin switching in a 2D van der Waals magnet
• Ultrafast laser-driven topological spin textures on a 2D magnet
• Emergent magnetic states due to stacking and strain in the van der Waals magnetic trilayer CrI3
• Nanomechanical probing and strain tuning of the Curie temperature in suspended Cr${}_2$Ge${}_2$Te${}_6$ heterostructures