Spectral Evidence for Local-Moment Ferromagnetism in van der Waals Metals FeGaTe and FeGeTe
arXiv:2307.00441 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.109.104410
Abstract
Magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) materials has attracted considerable attention recently for both fundamental understanding of magnetism and their tunability towards device applications. The isostructural FeGeTe and FeGaTe are two members of the Fe-based van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnet family, but exhibit very different Curie temperatures (T) of 210 K and 360 K, respectively. Here, by using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory, we systematically compare the electronic structures of the two compounds. Qualitative similarities in the Fermi surface can be found between the two compounds, with expanded hole pockets in FeGaTe suggesting additional hole carriers compared to FeGeTe. Interestingly, we observe no band shift in FeGaTe across its T of 360 K, compared to a small shift in FeGeTe across its T of 210 K. The weak temperature-dependent evolution strongly deviates from the expectations of an itinerant Stoner mechanism. Our results suggest that itinerant electrons have minimal contributions to the enhancement of T in FeGaTe compared to FeGeTe, and that the nature of ferromagnetism in these Fe-based vdW ferromagnets must be understood with considerations of the electron correlations.