Pristine graphene contacts to exfoliated α-RuCl3 crystals

ORAL

Abstract

The layered Mott insulator α-RuCl3 has garnered significant attention as a candidate to host a Kitaev quantum spin liquid, harboring fractionalized excitations and Majorana fermion-like spin excitations. Though significant progress has been made toward understanding how these phenomena manifest in α-RuCl3, experimental procedures to date have largely consisted of probes for pristine bulk samples. However a-RuCl3 may be readily exfoliated down to monolayer thicknesses. We show that we can achieve good electrical contact to α-RuCl3 using monolayer graphene, enabling direct measurement of the resistivity. In this talk, we present device configurations for interrogating exfoliated α-RuCl3 crystals in the few-layer limit by the fabrication of graphene/α-RuCl3 heterostructures. We further discuss measurements of the Mott gap via optical spectroscopy.

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Presenters

  • Jesse Balgley

    Washington University, St. Louis

Authors

  • Jesse Balgley

    Washington University, St. Louis

  • Boyi Zhou

    Washington University, St. Louis, Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis

  • Paula J Kelley

    University of Tennessee (Knoxville, USA), Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • David George Mandrus

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee (Knoxville, USA), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Department of Material Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Material Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Materials Science and Technology, Materials Science and Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee

  • Erik Henriksen

    Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr, St. Louis, MO 63130, Washington University in St. Louis, Washington Univ, Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Washington University, St. Louis, Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis