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Abstract: Engineering the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is the key to manipulate the magnetic orders in the emerging magnetic topological insulators (MTIs). In this letter, we synthesize the epitaxial Bi2Te3/MnTe magnetic heterostructures and observe pronounced AHE signals from both layers combined together. The evolution of the resulting hybrid AHE intensity with the top Bi2Te3 layer thickness manifests the presence of an intrinsic ferromagnetic phase induced by the topological surface states at the heterolayer interface. More importantly, by doping the Bi2Te3 layer with Sb, we are able to manipulate the sign of the Berry phase-associated AHE component. Our results demonstrate the unparalleled advantages of MTI heterostructures over magnetically doped TI counterparts in which the tunability of the AHE response can be greatly enhanced. This in turn unveils a new avenue for MTI heterostructure-based multifunctional applications.

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Abstract: We report charge transfer up to a single electron per interfacial unit cell across nonpolar heterointerfaces from the Mott insulator LaTi O 3 to the charge transfer insulator LaCo O 3 . In high-quality bi- and trilayer systems grown using pulsed laser deposition, soft x-ray absorption, dichroism, and scanning transmission electron microscopy-electron energy loss spectroscopy are used to probe the cobalt- 3 d electron count and provide an element-specific investigation of the magnetic properties. The experiments show the cobalt valence conversion is active within 3 unit cells of the heterointerface, and able to generate full conversion to 3 d 7 divalent Co, which displays a paramagnetic ground state. The number of LaTi O 3 / LaCo O 3 interfaces, the thickness of an additional, electronically insulating “break” layer between the LaTi O 3 and LaCo O 3 , and the LaCo O 3 film thickness itself in trilayers provide a trio of control knobs for average charge of the cobalt ions in LaCo O 3 , illustrating the efficacy of O − 2 p band alignment as a guiding principle for property design in complex oxide heterointerfaces.

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Abstract: Magnetic skyrmions are nanosized magnetization whirls that exhibit topological robustness and nontrivial magnetoelectrical properties, such as emergent electromagnetism and intriguing spin dynamics in the microwave-frequency region. In chiral magnets, skyrmions are usually found at a pocket in the phase diagram in the vicinity of the ordering temperature, wherein they order in the form of a hexagonal skyrmion lattice (SkL). It is generally believed that this equilibrium SkL phase is a uniform, long-range-ordered magnetic structure with a well-defined lattice constant. Here, using high-resolution small-angle resonant elastic x-ray scattering, we study the field and temperature dependence of the skyrmion lattice in FeGe and Cu 2 OSeO 3 membranes. Indeed, Cu 2 OSeO 3 shows the expected rigid skyrmion lattice, known from bulk samples, that is unaffected by tuning field and temperature within the phase pocket. In stark contrast, the lattice constant and skyrmion size in FeGe membranes undergo a continuous evolution within the skyrmion phase pocket, whereby the lattice constant changes by up to 15% and the magnetic scattering intensity varies significantly. Using micromagnetic modeling, it is found that for FeGe the competing energy terms contributing to the formation of the skyrmion lattice fully explain this breathing behavior. In contrast, for Cu 2 OSeO 3 this stabilizing energy balance is less affected by the smaller field variation across the skyrmion pocket, leading to the observed rigid lattice structure.

Open Access

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Abstract: The study of transition metal clusters exhibiting fast electron hopping or delocalization remains challenging, because intermetallic communications mediated through bridging ligands are normally weak. Herein, we report the synthesis of a nanosized complex, [Fe(Tp)(CN)3]8[Fe(H2O)(DMSO)]6 (abbreviated as [Fe14], Tp−, hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide), which has a fluctuating valence due to two mobile d-electrons in its atomic layer shell. The rate of electron transfer of [Fe14] complex demonstrates the Arrhenius-type temperature dependence in the nanosized spheric surface, wherein high-spin centers are ferromagnetically coupled, producing an S = 14 ground state. The electron-hopping rate at room temperature is faster than the time scale of Mössbauer measurements (<~10−8 s). Partial reduction of N-terminal high spin FeIII sites and electron mediation ability of CN ligands lead to the observation of both an extensive electron transfer and magnetic coupling properties in a precisely atomic layered shell structure of a nanosized [Fe14] complex.

Open Access

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Abstract: Mechanically-exfoliated two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials (2D FMs) were discovered to possess long-range ferromagnetic order and topologically nontrivial skyrmions in few-layers. However, owing to the dimensionality effect, such few-layer systems usually exhibit much lower Curie temperature (TC) compared to their bulk counterparts. It is therefore of great interest to explore effective approaches to enhance their TC, particularly in wafer-scale for practical applications. Here, we report an interfacial proximity-induced high-TC 2D FM Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) via A-type antiferromagnetic material CrSb (CS) which strongly couples to FGT. A superlattice structure of (FGT/CS)n, where n stands for the period of FGT/CS heterostructure, has been successfully produced with sharp interfaces by molecular-beam epitaxy on 2-inch wafers. By performing the elemental specific X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements, we have unequivocally discovered that TC of 4-layer Fe3GeTe2 can be significantly enhanced from 140 K to 230 K because of the interfacial ferromagnetic coupling. In the meanwhile, an inverse proximity effect occurs in the FGT/CS interface, driving the interfacial antiferromagnetic CrSb into a ferrimagnetic state as evidenced by a double-switching behavior in hysteresis loops and the XMCD spectra. Density functional theory calculations show that the Fe-Te/Cr-Sb interface is strongly FM coupled and doping of the spin-polarized electrons by the interfacial Cr layer gives rise to the TC enhancement of the Fe3GeTe2 films, in accordance with our XMCD measurements. Strikingly, by introducing rich Fe in 4-layer FGT/CS superlattice, TC can be further enhanced to near room temperature. Our results provide a feasible approach in enhancing the magnetic order of few-layer 2D FMs in wafer-scale and render opportunities for realizing realistic ultra-thin spintronic devices.