Epitaxial growth of quasi-2D van der Waals ferromagnets on crystalline substrates

Intrinsic magnetism in van der Waals materials has instigated interest in exploring magnetism in the 2D limit for potential applications in spintronics and also in understanding novel control of 2D magnetism via variation of layer thickness, gate tunability and magnetoelectric effects. The chromium telluride (Cr_<i>x</i>Te_<i>y</i>) family is an interesting subsection of ferromagnetic materials with highTCvalues, also presenting diverse stoichiometry arising from self-intercalation of Cr. Apart from the layered CrTe₂system, the other non-layered Cr_<i>x</i>Te_<i>y</i>compounds also offer exceptional magnetic properties, and a novel growth technique to grow thin films of these non-layered compounds offers exciting possibilities for ultra-thin spin-based electronics and magnetic sensors. In this work, we discuss the role of crystalline substrates in chemical vapor deposition growth of non-layered 2D ferromagnets, where the crystal symmetry of the substrate as well as the misfit and strain are the key players governing the growth mechanism of ultra-thin Cr₅Te₈, a non-layered ferromagnet. The magnetic studies of the as-grown Cr₅Te₈reveal the signatures of co-existing soft and hard ferromagnetic phases, which makes this system an intriguing system to search for emergent topological phases, such as magnetic skyrmions.