Spin-orbit-induced Ising ferromagnetism at a van der Waals interface

松岡 秀樹*; Barnes, S. E.*; 家田 淳一; 前川 禎通; Bahramy, M. S.*; Saika, B. K.*; 竹田 幸治; 和達 大樹*; Wang, Y.*; 吉田 訓*; et al.

Nano Letters, 21(4), p.1807 - 1814, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04851

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy, a key ingredient for establishing long-range order in a magnetic material down to the two-dimensional (2D) limit, is generally associated with spin-orbit interaction (SOI) involving a finite orbital angular momentum. Here we report strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy without orbital angular momentum, emerging at the interface between two different van der Waals (vdW) materials, an archetypal metallic vdW material NbSe possessing Zeeman-type SOI and an isotropic vdW ferromagnet VSe. We found that the Zeeman SOI in NbSe induces robust out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in VSe down to the 2D limit with a more than 2-fold enhancement of the transition temperature. We propose a simple model that takes into account the energy gain in NbSe in contact with a ferromagnet, which naturally explains our observations. Our results demonstrate a conceptually new magnetic proximity effect at the vdW interface, expanding the horizons of emergent phenomena achievable in vdW heterostructures.