Magnetic behavior of two-dimensional manganese telluride

Abstract

Magnetism in atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials is attractive for several applications such as memory devices, sensors, biomedical devices, etc. Here, we have synthesized 2D manganese telluride (MnTe) using a scalable synthesis method consisting of melting followed by liquid phase exfoliation (LPE). Both bulk and 2D MnTe samples were analyzed for their magnetic behavior at room temperature and low temperatures (10 K). A change from antiferromagnetic nature to paramagnetic behavior was observed in 2D MnTe flakes. Enhanced magnetic saturation values (up to 400% increase) were observed as compared to bulk MnTe in RT. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations explain the layer-dependent magnetic behavior of the 2D MnTe flakes, as well the antiferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition due to an unbalanced spin population.