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Tailoring the magnetic exchange interaction in MnBi2Te4 superlattices via the intercalation of ferromagnetic layers

Nature Electronics volume 6, pages 18–27 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 (MBT) provides a platform for the creation of exotic quantum phenomena. Novel properties can be created by modification of the MnBi2Te4 framework, but the design of stable magnetic structures remains challenging. Here we report ferromagnet-intercalated MnBi2Te4 superlattices with tunable magnetic exchange interactions. Using molecular beam epitaxy, we intercalate ferromagnetic MnTe layers into MnBi2Te4 to create [(MBT)(MnTe)m]N superlattices and examine their magnetic interaction properties using polarized neutron reflectometry and magnetoresistance measurements. Incorporation of the ferromagnetic spacer tunes the antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling of the MnBi2Te4 layers through the exchange-spring effect at MnBi2Te4/MnTe hetero-interfaces. The MnTe thickness can be used to modulate the relative strengths of the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order, and the superlattice periodicity can tailor the spin configurations of the synthesized multilayers.

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Fig. 1: Structural and electrical characterizations of the MBE-grown MBT thin film.
Fig. 2: Polarized neutron reflectometry measurements on the MBE-grown [(MBT)(MnTe)1.75]10 superlattice.
Fig. 3: Manipulation of the exchange-spring effect in [(MBT)(MnTe)m]5 samples through MnTe intercalation.
Fig. 4: Mediation of interlayer couplings in the [(MBT)(MnTe)m]5 system.
Fig. 5: Tunable MR responses through superlattice engineering.

Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of the study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is sponsored by the National Key R&D Program of China under contract no. 2017YFA0305400, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants nos. 61874172 and 11904230), the Major Project of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology (grant no. 2018SHZDZX02), the Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy Efficient and Custom AI IC, and the Shanghaitech Quantum Device and Soft Matter Nano-fabrication Labs (SMN180827). X.K. acknowledges support from the Merck POC programme and the Shanghai Rising-Star programme (grant no. 21QA1406000). Y.Y. acknowledges support from Shanghai Pujiang Program (grant no. 20PJ1411500). We acknowledge the facilities, and scientific and technical assistance, of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility at the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland. Q.Y. acknowledges support from the Shanghai Sailing Program (grant no. 19YF1433200). We would also like to thank the ISIS neutron facility for the award of beam time (RB2000244, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2000244). Certain commercial equipment is identified in this paper to foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by NIST. Diamond Light Source is acknowledged for the beam time allocated on I10 under proposal MM30262. B.A. and T.H. acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N032128/1). F.X. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52225207 and 52150103), the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (grant no. 2019SHZDZX01), the Program of Shanghai Academic/Technology Research Leader (grant no. 20XD1400200) and the Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research—FuDan University 21TQ1400100 (21TQ006).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Peng Chen, Qi Yao.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Peng Chen, Jiuming Liu, Puyang Huang, Yumeng Yang & Xufeng Kou

  2. Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Peng Chen

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China

    Peng Chen

  4. ShanghaiTech Laboratory for Topological Physics, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Qi Yao, Yuchen Ji, Zhongkai Liu & Xufeng Kou

  5. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Qi Yao, Yuchen Ji & Zhongkai Liu

  6. National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Junqi Xu & Haijun Zhang

  7. School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Queensland, Australia

    Qiang Sun & Jin Zou

  8. Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Qiang Sun & Jin Zou

  9. NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Alexander J. Grutter, Patrick Quarterman & Purnima P. Balakrishnan

  10. ISIS-Neutron and Muon Source, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK

    Christy J. Kinane, Andrew J. Caruana & Sean Langridge

  11. Institute of Microstructure and Property of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Ang Li & Xiaodong Han

  12. Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Barat Achinuq, Emily Heppell & Thorsten Hesjedal

  13. State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Shanshan Liu & Faxian Xiu

  14. Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory Dongguan, Guangdong, China

    Baoshan Cui & Guoqiang Yu

  15. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Baoshan Cui & Guoqiang Yu

  16. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Haijun Zhang

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  1. Peng Chen
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Contributions

X.K. and Q.Y. conceived and supervised the study. P.C. and S. Liu grew the samples. P.C., J.L. and P.H. performed the characterization measurements and conducted the transport measurements. Q.Y. and P.C. analysed the transport and characterization data. P.C. and Y.Y. conducted the macro-spin simulations. J.X. and H.Z. contributed the first-principles calculations. Q.S., A.L., X.H. and J.Z. performed the transmission electron microscopy characterization. A.J.G., P.Q., P.P.B., C.J.K., A.J.C. and S. Langridge performed the neutron reflectometry measurements. B.A., E.H. and T.H. performed X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, and S. Liu, B.C., G.Y. and F.X. performed superconducting quantum interference device measurements. Y.J. and Z.L. performed the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. P.C., Q.Y., Y.Y. and X.K. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qi Yao, Yumeng Yang or Xufeng Kou.

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Nature Electronics thanks Xianhui Chen and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary sections 1–12 and Figs. 1–12.

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Chen, P., Yao, Q., Xu, J. et al. Tailoring the magnetic exchange interaction in MnBi2Te4 superlattices via the intercalation of ferromagnetic layers. Nat Electron 6, 18–27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00880-1

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