Nanomechanical probing and strain tuning of the Curie temperature in suspended Cr2Ge2Te6-based heterostructures
Makars Šiškins, Samer Kurdi, Martin Lee, Benjamin J. M. Slotboom, Wenyu Xing, Samuel Mañas‐Valero, Eugenio Coronado, Shuang Jia, Wei Han, Toeno van der Sar, Herre S. J. van der Zant, Peter G. Steeneken
Abstract
Abstract Two-dimensional magnetic materials with strong magnetostriction are attractive systems for realizing strain-tuning of the magnetization in spintronic and nanomagnetic devices. This requires an understanding of the magneto-mechanical coupling in these materials. In this work, we suspend thin Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 layers and their heterostructures, creating ferromagnetic nanomechanical membrane resonators. We probe their mechanical and magnetic properties as a function of temperature and strain by observing magneto-elastic signatures in the temperature-dependent resonance frequency near the Curie temperature, T C . We compensate for the negative thermal expansion coefficient of Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 by fabricating heterostructures with thin layers of WSe 2 and antiferromagnetic FePS 3 , which have positive thermal expansion coefficients. Thus we demonstrate the possibility of probing multiple magnetic phase transitions in a single heterostructure. Finally, we demonstrate a strain-induced enhancement of T C in a suspended Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 -based heterostructure by 2.5 ± 0.6 K by applying a strain of 0.026% via electrostatic force.