Interfacial magnetic interactions in 2D systems
Interfacial magnetic interactions, such as exchange coupling, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), radically change the behaviour of thin-film magnets, of which spin textures are often a manifestation. In metallic thin films, chiral spin textures stabilised by DMI and PMA (e.g. spin spirals, skyrmions) have been intensively studied due to their small size and efficient propagation by current. The exotic properties of van der Waals (vdW) 2D materials, along with the comparatively simple fabrication of atomically-thin but wide heterostructures have set in motion a small revolution in research. VdW heterostructures constitute a vast class of systems with potentially new functionalities in nanomagnetism that remain essentially uncharted. The goal of the phD is to explore how the interfaces in vdW heterostructures can be engineered to produce magnetic interactions (DMI, PMA, exchange) that enable useful functionalities (e.g. movable skyrmions) and to understand their key ingredients. It will follow our first experiments that demonstrate a large DMI in polycrystalline Co/hBN systems and rely on the use of complementary techniques in magnetism (growth, magneto-optics, imaging, spin waves…).
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[Li22] Y. Li et al., ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 4, 3278 (2022)