Ivan Verzhbitskiy, a research fellow who carried out the experiments, explained. "Due to this high electron density, the changes in the magnetic properties of the semiconductor became profound," Dr. The researchers showed that using the electric double-layer transistor geometry, the Curie temperature and magnetic anisotropy of Cr 2Ge 2Te 6 can be modulated via electrostatic gating.
This device geometry allowed them to achieve electron doping densities one order of magnitude higher than those typically achieved using common solid oxides. The team decided to boost the electric field effect using an electric double-layer transistor geometry where gel-like electrolyte forms a layer of ions at the surface of the crystal, generating strong electric fields. They soon realized that these materials' magnetism cannot be effectively tuned using the standard solid-gate oxides (i.e., dielectric layers typically used to modulate the electrical properties of semiconductor-based transistors). Eda and his colleagues started testing methods that could enable the electrical control of magnetism in ultra-thin crystals of Cr 2Ge 2Te 6. Thus, electrical control of their magnetic properties by gate electrostatics has become easier, and promising results were reported by several research groups. Due to the ultrathin body of the thinned materials, their physical properties are highly susceptible to gate electrostatics. Recently, studies showed that some layered semiconductors exhibit remarkable magnetism even when thinned down to nanoscopic thicknesses. "However, the effect of electric fields on magnetism in most materials is too weak to be useful for real applications." "The idea of electrically controlling magnetism in a magnetic semiconductor, which is key to developing energy-efficient information processing and storage devices, has been around for decades," Associate Professor Goki Eda, who led the team that carried out the experiments, told TechXplore.
The findings presented in their paper, which was published in Nature Electronics, could have important implications for the development of a wide range of hybrid electronic devices. Researchers at the National University of Singapore, University College London (UCL) and University of Science and Technology in Beijing recently proposed a new method to modulate the magnetic anisotropy of chromium germanium telluride, Cr 2Ge 2Te 6, a layered ferromagnetic semiconductor. Moreover, the interplay between magnetic order and electrical charges in these materials systems remains largely unexplored. However, most existing layered ferromagnetic semiconductors exhibit Curie temperatures below 100 K. To be technologically viable, these devices should operate at or close to room temperature.
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