Electronic Band Structure Changes across the Antiferromagnetic Phase Transition of Exfoliated MnPS 3 Flakes Probed by μ-ARPES

Nano Letters, vol. 23, pp. 10342–10349

Abstract

Exfoliated magnetic 2D materials enable versatile tuning of magnetization, e.g., by gating or providing proximity-induced exchange interaction. However, their electronic band structure after exfoliation has not been probed, presumably due to their photochemical sensitivity. Here, we provide micrometer-scale angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of the exfoliated intralayer antiferromagnet MnPS 3 above and below the Néel temperature down to one monolayer. Favorable comparison with density functional theory calculations enables identifying the orbital character of the observed bands. Consistently, we find pronounced changes across the Néel temperature for bands consisting of Mn 3d and 3p levels of adjacent S atoms. The deduced orbital mixture indicates that the superexchange is relevant for the magnetic interaction. There are only minor changes between monolayer and thicker films, demonstrating the predominant 2D character of MnPS 3 . The novel access is transferable to other MPX 3 materials (M: transition metal, P: phosphorus, X: chalcogenide), providing several antiferromagnetic arrangements.

Authors 19

1. Jeff Strasdas Aachen II. Institute of Physics B and JARA‐FIT

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   II. Institute of Physics B and JARA-FIT, RWTH-Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Benjamin Pestka Aachen II. Institute of Physics B and JARA‐FIT

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   II. Institute of Physics B and JARA-FIT, RWTH-Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. Miłosz Rybak

   Wrocław University of Science and Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Semiconductor Materials Engineering, Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, WybrzeŻe Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland

4. Adam Krzysztof Budniak

   Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Solid State Institute, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute and Helen Diller Quantum Center, Technion − Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel

5. Niklas Leuth Aachen II. Institute of Physics B and JARA‐FIT

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   II. Institute of Physics B and JARA-FIT, RWTH-Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

6. Honey Boban

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52428, Germany

7. Vitaliy Feyer

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52428, Germany

8. Iulia Cojocariu

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52428, Germany

9. José Avila

   Université Paris-Saclay · Synchrotron SOLEIL

   Affiliation as printed

   Synchrotron-SOLEIL, Université Paris-Saclay, Saint-Aubin, BP48, Gif sur Yvette, Paris F91192, France

10. Pavel Dudin

    Université Paris-Saclay · Synchrotron SOLEIL

    Affiliation as printed

    Synchrotron-SOLEIL, Université Paris-Saclay, Saint-Aubin, BP48, Gif sur Yvette, Paris F91192, France

11. Aaron Bostwick

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · Advanced Light Source

    Affiliation as printed

    Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States

12. Chris M. Jozwiak

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · Advanced Light Source

    Affiliation as printed

    Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States

13. Eli Rotenberg

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · Advanced Light Source

    Affiliation as printed

    Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States

14. Carmine Autieri

    Institute of Physics · Polish Academy of Sciences

    Affiliation as printed

    International Research Centre MagTop, Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Aleja Lotników 32/46, PL-02668 Warsaw, Poland

15. Yaron Amouyal

    Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion − Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel

16. Łukasz Pluciński

    Forschungszentrum Jülich

    Affiliation as printed

    Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52428, Germany

17. Efrat Lifshitz

    Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Solid State Institute, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute and Helen Diller Quantum Center, Technion − Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel

18. Magdalena Birowska

    University of Warsaw

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura St. 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland

19. Markus Morgenstern corresponding Aachen II. Institute of Physics B and JARA‐FIT

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    II. Institute of Physics B and JARA-FIT, RWTH-Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany