Probing the influence of proximity coupling on the ferromagnetic Tc in van der Waals heterostructures

Magnetic proximity coupling in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures represents a frontier method for manipulating the properties of 2D materials. In our recent experiment at BOREAS (2024028280), we demonstrated that ferromagnetic order can be induced in VTe2 within an epitaxial heterostructure with Cr2Te3. Excitingly, our X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements furthermore suggest that this coupling reduces the magnetic ordering in the Cr2Te3 layer itself, although we did not have sufficient time to establish this conclusively. We therefore request continuation beamtime to perform a systematic XMCD-based Arrott-Noakes analysis in order to elucidate the interplay of ferromagnetic ordering in the subsystems of the heterostructure, and to uncover its microscopic mechanisms. Together, this promises new insights into the nature of the phase competition at the 2D limit of interacting quantum materials, and to unveil new routes through which to control this.