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Probing local magnetic states in the van der Waals ferromagnet Fe4GeTe2 by a vector-field magnetic force microscope

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Abstract

In this study, we systematically investigate the magnetic domain structure of Fe4GeTe2 single crystals, employing a cryogenic vector-field magnetic force microscope to probe its temperature and magnetic field dependencies. The material undergoes a spin-reversal transition at around 110 K, leading to a gradual magnetization reorientation from in-plane to out-of-plane as temperature decreases. Our observations reveal a complex domain structure featuring striped shapes enclosed by wavy closed loops, exhibiting limited sensitivity to temperature variations without an external magnetic field. When subject to an out-of-plane magnetic field, the domain structure transforms into micrometric elongated striped shapes, gradually evolving into a more irregular pattern. Conversely, in in-plane measurements, the system displays an inhomogeneous distribution of micrometric bubble-like domains, progressively interconnecting into striped shapes. These distinctive responses are attributed to the interplay between small uniaxial and shape anisotropies within the material. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the magnetic domain dynamics in van der Waals ferromagnetic materials, laying the groundwork for further investigations and potential applications in electronic devices.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, and ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2019R1A2C2090356, NRF-2021R1A6A1A10042944, and NRF-2022H1D3A3A01077468); the Commercialization Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes (COMPA) (RS2023-00243196); the Technology Development Program (Grant No. S3198743) funded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, Korea). JK and NH were supported by the Brain-Pool program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation of Korea (RS-2023-00222408). JSK was supported by the Basic Science Research Program (NRF2022R1A2C3009731) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea. NH is member of the Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia (INN), CNEA-CONICET (Argentina). GK is currently at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon, Korea.

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Author notes

  1. Jinyoung Yun, Yeonkyu Lee and Geunyong Kim have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea

    Jinyoung Yun, Yeonkyu Lee, Geunyong Kim, Junho Seo, Beom Tak Kang, Jun Sung Kim, Nestor Haberkorn & Jeehoon Kim

  2. Center for Artificial Low-Dimensional Electronic Systems, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea

    Junho Seo, Beom Tak Kang & Jun Sung Kim

  3. Division of Physical Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea

    Jae-Hyuk Choi

  4. Instituto Balseiro, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Av. Bustillo 9500, 8400, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

    Nestor Haberkorn

  5. Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología, CNEA - CONICET, Nodo Bariloche, Av. Bustillo 9500, 8400, San Carlos de Bariloche, RN, Argentina

    Nestor Haberkorn

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  1. Jinyoung Yun
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Contributions

J.K. conceived the original idea and supervised the project. J.Y., Y.L. and G.K. performed MFM measurements. J.S., B.K. and J.S.K. made the Fe4GeTe2 crystal and performed magnetization measurements. J.Y., Y.L, J.C, N.H. and J.K. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jeehoon Kim.

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The author declares that he has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.The article is original. The article has been written by the stated authors who are all aware of its content and approve its submission. The article has not been published previously. The article is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. No conflict of interest exists, or if such conflict exists, the exact nature must be declared. If accepted, the article will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, without the written concent of the publisher.

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Yun, J., Lee, Y., Kim, G. et al. Probing local magnetic states in the van der Waals ferromagnet Fe4GeTe2 by a vector-field magnetic force microscope. J Mater Sci 59, 6415–6424 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09583-8

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