Layered van der Waals materials have gained an ever-increasing interest in recent years due to their inherent ability to provide a versatile playground to explore the emergence of new quantum phenomena and fabrication of functional heterostructures. Among these, the trihalides CrI3 and VI3 both stand out due to their unique magnetic properties and the interplay of these with their structural transitions [1,2]. While several theoretical studies have investigated the effect of elemental or electrostatic doping on both VI3 and CrI3 individually, only two experimental studies of this exists [3] and studies of the solid solution have been scarce in large part due to the significant synthetic challenge of accessing it. Hence, we focussed on the evolution and challenges of the crystal growth, and the structural and magnetic properties across the solid solution of V1–xCrxI3. We have successfully grown crystals across the whole range of the solid solution, i.e., x = 0 – 1, by employing the self-selecting vapour-growth (SSVG) technique [4], and achieved this by carefully tuning and adapting the synthesis conditions based on the desired chemical composition. In the resulting measurements of the magnetic properties of the single crystals grown, we identified three main regimes, ranging from complex ferri- and ferromagnetic behaviour both in the planes parallel and perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis, to spin-glass-like behaviour. This control of the magnetic properties via the chemical composition, structure, and synthetic route may open new pathways for further applications.
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References:
[1] M. A. McGuire et al., Chemistry of Materials, 27, 612-620 (2015)
[2] T. Marchandier et al., Physical Review B, 104, 014105 (2021)
[3] B. Huang et al., Nature, 546, 270-273 (2017)
[4] A. Lukovkina et al., Chemistry of Materials, 36, 6237-6245 (2024)
Do not forget to register for pizza!
Location: Stuckelberg, Ecole de Physique
Time: Friday 2 October 2026, 12:30 for pizza, 13:00 start discussion