Magnetic order and its interplay with structure phase transition in van der Waals ferromagnet VI${}_3$

Abstract

Van der Waals magnet VI${}_3$ demonstrates intriguing magnetic properties that render it great for use in various applications. However, its microscopic magnetic structure has not been determined yet. Here, we report neutron diffraction and susceptibility measurements in VI${}_3$ that revealed a ferromagnetic order with the moment direction tilted from the $c$-axis by ~36° at 4 K. A spin reorientation accompanied by a structure distortion within the honeycomb plane is observed at a temperature of ~27 K, before the magnetic order completely disappears at $T_C$ = 50 K. The refined magnetic moment of ~1.3 ${\mu }_B$ at 4 K is considerably lower than the fully ordered spin moment of 2 ${\mu }_B$/ V${}^{3+}$, suggesting the presence of a considerable orbital moment antiparallel to the spin moment and strong spin-orbit coupling in VI${}_3$. This results in strong magnetoelastic interactions that make the magnetic properties of VI${}_3$ easily tunable via strain and pressure.

8 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Magnetic 2D materials and heterostructures
• Ferromagnetic van der Waals crystal VI3
• VI3 - a new layered ferromagnetic semiconductor
• Bulk properties of van-der-Waals hard ferromagnet VI3
• Enhanced Ferromagnetism of CrI3 Bilayer by Self-Intercalation
• Crystal Structures and Phase Transitions of the van-der-Waals Ferromagnet VI3
• Dynamical correlation enhanced orbital magnetization in VI${}_3$

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Terahertz Magnetic and Lattice Excitations in van der Waals Ferromagnet VI3
• FeS2 monolayer: a high valence and high-$T_{\mathrm{C}}$ Ising ferromagnet
• Evidence of temperature-dependent interplay between spin and orbital moment in van der Waals ferromagnet VI3