Electronic and Magnetic Characterization of Epitaxial CrBr3 Monolayers on a Superconducting Substrate

The ability to imprint a given material property to another through a proximity effect in layered 2D materials has opened the way to the creation of designer materials. Here, molecular-beam epitaxy is used for direct synthesis of a superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructure by combining superconducting niobium diselenide (NbSe2) with the monolayer ferromagnetic chromium tribromide (CrBr3). Using different characterization techniques and density-functional theory calculations, it is confirmed that the CrBr3 monolayer retains its ferromagnetic ordering with a magnetocrystalline anisotropy favoring an out-of-plane spin orientation. Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements show a slight reduction of the superconducting gap of NbSe2 and the formation of a vortex lattice on the CrBr3 layer in experiments under an external magnetic field. The results contribute to the broader framework of exploiting proximity effects to realize novel phenomena in 2D heterostructures.

Automated summary

The successful synthesis of a superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructure using molecular-beam epitaxy technique demonstrates that the monolayer of CrBr3 maintains its ferromagnetic ordering under external magnetic field, leading to a slight reduction in the superconducting gap of NbSe2 and the formation of a vortex lattice on the CrBr3 layer. These findings suggest the potential of leveraging proximity effects to achieve novel phenomena in 2D heterostructures.