Researchers uncover two dimensional magnets formed by single atomic layer

A team of researchers have discovered magnetism for the first time in the 2-D world of monolayers, or materials formed by a single atomic layer.

According to experts, the findings, published this week in the journal Nature, demonstrated that magnetic properties could exist even in the 2-D realm, opening a world of potential applications, as magnetic materials formed the basis of technologies that played increasingly pivotal roles in our lives today, Xinhua news agency reported.

"What we have discovered here is an isolated 2-D material with intrinsic magnetism, and the magnetism in the system is highly robust," said Xiaodong Xu, a professor of physics and of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington (UW).

"We envision that new information technologies may emerge based on these new 2-D magnets."

The international team of researchers led by Xu and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) physics professor Pablo Jarillo-Herrero proved that the material, chromium triiodide, or CrI3, had magnetic properties in its monolayer form.

Other groups, including co-author Michael McGuire at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was managed for the US Department of Energy, had earlier shown that CrI3, in its multilayered, 3-D, bulk crystal form, was ferromagnetic.

According to commentators, magnetic materials formed the basis of technologies that played increasingly pivotal roles in our lives today, which included sensing and hard-disk data storage. Researchers were seeking new magnetic materials for smaller and faster devices that were more compact, more efficient and capable of being controlled using precise, reliable methods.

Researchers had earlier shown that CrI3 - in its multilayered, 3D, bulk crystal form was ferromagnetic, that is, it had some magnetic properties.

However, no 3D magnetic substance had earlier retained its magnetic properties when thinned down to a single atomic sheet.

According to experts, monolayer materials could demonstrate unique properties not seen in their multilayered, 3D forms.

"You simply cannot accurately predict what the electric, magnetic, physical or chemical properties of a 2D monolayer crystal will be based on the behaviour of its 3D bulk counterpart," said Bevin Huang, a doctoral student at UW.