Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Making Atomic-Level Magnetism Tunable with Light at Room Temperature

Published

Author(s)

Valery Ortiz Jimenez, Yen Pham, Da Zhou, Mingzu Liu, Florence Ann Nugera, Vijaysankar Kalappattil, Tatiana Eggers, Khang Hoang, Dinh Loc Duong, Mauricio Terrones, Humberto Rodriguez Gutierrez, Manh-Huong Phan

Abstract

The capacity to manipulate magnetization in 2D dilute magnetic semiconductors (2D-DMSs) using light, specifically in magnetically doped transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers (M-doped TX2, where M = V, Fe, and Cr; T = W, Mo; X = S, Se, and Te), may lead to innovative applications in spintronics, spin-caloritronics, valleytronics, and quantum computation. This Perspective paper explores the mediation of magnetization by light under ambient conditions in 2D-TMD DMSs and heterostructures. By combining magneto-LC resonance (MLCR) experiments with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that the magnetization can be enhanced using light in V-doped TMD monolayers (e.g., V-WS2, V-WSe2). This phenomenon is attributed to excess holes in the conduction and valence bands, and carriers trapped in magnetic doping states, mediating the magnetization of the semiconducting layer. In 2D-TMD heterostructures (VSe2/WS2, VSe2/MoS2), the significance of proximity, charge-transfer, and confinement effects in amplifying light-mediated magnetism is demonstrated. We attributed this to photon absorption at the TMD layer that generates electron–hole pairs mediating the magnetization of the heterostructure. These findings will encourage further research in the field of 2D magnetism and establish a novel design of 2D-TMDs and heterostructures with optically tunable magnetic functionalities, paving the way for next-generation magneto-optic nanodevices.
Citation
Advanced Science
Volume
11
Issue
7

Keywords

2D van der Waals Magnets, Transition Metal Dichalcogenides, Heterostructures, Opto-spintronics, Spin-caloritronics, Valleytronics, Quantum Communications

Citation

Ortiz Jimenez, V. , Pham, Y. , Zhou, D. , Liu, M. , Nugera, F. , Kalappattil, V. , Eggers, T. , Hoang, K. , Duong, D. , Terrones, M. , Rodriguez Gutierrez, H. and Phan, M. (2023), Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Making Atomic-Level Magnetism Tunable with Light at Room Temperature, Advanced Science, [online], https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202304792, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=936913 (Accessed October 16, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created December 10, 2023, Updated March 14, 2024