Thickness- and magnetic-field-driven suppression of antiferromagnetism in V$_{5}$S$_{8}$ single crystals

ORAL

Abstract

The search for novel materials approaching the $2d$ limit can be expanded beyond the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) to related compounds, widening the range of available physical phenomena and tuning parameters. V$_{5}$S$_{8}$, a metal with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state below $\sim$ 32 K, displays a prominent spin-flop transition at $\sim$ 4.2 T. Here we study the AFM state in thin CVD-grown single crystals of V$_{5}$S$_{8}$, focusing on temperatures close to T$_{N\'eel}$, where the exact transition temperature depends on the crystal thickness. Magnetoresistance (MR) measurements performed just below T$_{N\'eel}$ reveal magnetic hysteresis, likely a result of a first-order magnetic field-driven breakdown of the AFM state. In thin crystals, on the order of 10 nm thick, monotonic MR measurements suggest that antiferromagnetism is suppressed as the thickness nears the $2d$ limit. This work demonstrates the possibility of growing single crystals of a relatively complicated magnetic system with thicknesses approaching one unit cell, thereby allowing the tuning of magnetic properties by a field-driven phase transition.

Authors

  • Will Hardy

    Applied Physics Graduate Program, Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University

  • Jiangtan Yuan

    Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University

  • Panpan Zhou

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University

  • Jun Lou

    Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University

  • Douglas Natelson

    Rice University Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice University, Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University