Superlattice and disorder effects in magnetic intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides

Intercalation compounds of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) can produce a wide array of magnetic ordering that depend on the extent of intercalation, choice of TMD host lattice, and choice of intercalant. In Cr_1/3MS2 (M = Nb or Ta), S = 3/2 Cr³⁺ centers are arranged in a √3 × √3 superlattice structure that breaks inversion symmetry and leads to chiral helimagnetic phases. In this work combined atomic resolution (S)TEM imaging and Lorentz TEM were used to examine the effect of intercalant order/disorder on chiral helimagnetism in this family of materials. The synthesis of two-dimensional analogues of such magnetic intercalated TMDs accessed by chemical intercalation will also be discussed.