Sep 20 – 25, 2026
University of Graz
Europe/Vienna timezone

Strain-Mediated Lattice Reconstruction Enhances Ferromagnetism in Cr2Ge2Te6/WTe2 van der Waals Heterobilayers

Sep 24, 2026, 11:00 AM
15m
HS 15.05 (University of Graz)

HS 15.05

University of Graz

15 - RESOWI E, ground floor
3) Contributed talk M27 - 2D Materials-Synthesis, Surfaces, Dynamics, Devices Mini-Colloquium

Speaker

Dr Franz Herling (ICN2)

Description

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures enable tailored electronic and magnetic phases by stacking atomically thin layers with pristine interfaces [1–2].
Here, we investigate fully 2D Cr₂Ge₂Te₆/WTe₂ heterostructures and identify a strong enhancement of ferromagnetism in Cr₂Ge₂Te₆ (CGT). Magnetotransport measurements across multiple devices with WTe₂ thicknesses ranging from monolayer to bulk reveal a robust anomalous Hall effect together with a more than twofold increase of the Curie temperature and substantially enhanced coercive fields. Interface microscopy confirms chemically abrupt vdW interfaces with no detectable interdiffusion, while control experiments rule out processing- or strayfield-induced artifacts. Our experiments and theoretical calculations demonstrate that interfacial charge transfer renders CGT conductive and that proximity-induced lattice distortions in CGT enhance exchange and magnetocrystalline anisotropy [3].
These results establish strainmediated lattice reconstruction as a practical strategy for engineering hightemperature magnetic order in 2D heterostructures [4–6] and clarify that proximity effects in vdW stacks can be governed by modifications within the
magnetic layer itself.

[1] Geim A.K., Grigorieva I.V., Nature, 499 (2013) 419
[2] Novoselov K.S., et al., Science, 353 (2016) aac9439
[3] Herling F., et al., Nano Lett. 26, 16, (2026) 5434–5442
[4] Sierra J.F., et al., Nat. Nanotechnol., 16 (2021) 856
[5] Dong X.-J., et al., Phys. Rev. B, 102 (2020) 144443
[6] Dong X.-J., et al., Phys. Rev. Appl., 12 (2019) 014020

Author

Dr Franz Herling (ICN2)

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