Van der Waals (vdW) magnets are an ideal platform for tailoring two-dimensional (2D) magnetism with immense potential for spintronics applications and are intensively investigated. However, little is known about the microscopic origin of magnetic order in these antiferromagnetic systems. We used X-ray photoemission electron microscopy to address the electronic and magnetic properties of the vdW antiferromagnet FePS3 down to the monolayer. Our experiments reveal a giant out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy of 22 meV per Fe ion, accompanied by unquenched magnetic orbital moments. Moreover, our calculations suggest that the Ising magnetism in FePS3 is a visible manifestation of spin-orbit entanglement of the Fe 3d electron system.
@article{arxiv.2211.05381,
title = {Giant magnetic anisotropy in the atomically thin van der Waals antiferromagnet FePS3},
author = {Youjin Lee and Suhan Son and Chaebin Kim and Soonmin Kang and Junying Shen and Michel Kenzelmann and Bernard Delley and Tatiana Savchenko and Sergii Parchenko and Woongki Na and Ki-Young Choi and Wondong Kim and Hyeonsik Cheong and Peter M. Derlet and Armin Kleibert and Je-Geun Park},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.05381},
year = {2022}
}