Two-dimensional magnetic semiconductors with room Curie temperatures

Abstract: We propose two-dimensional (2D) Ising-type ferromagnetic semiconductors TcSiTe3, TcGeSe3, and TcGeTe3 with high Curie temperatures around 200-0500 K. Owing to large spin-orbit couplings, the large magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE), large anomalous Hall conductivity, and large magneto-optical Kerr effect were discovered in these intriguing 2D materials. By comparing all possible 2D MGeTe3 materials (M = 3d, 4d, 5d transition metals), we found a large orbital moment around 0.5 $\mu$B per atom and a large MAE for TcGeTe3. The large orbital moments are revealed to be from the comparable crystal fields and electron correlations in these Tc-based 2D materials. The microscopic mechanism of the high Curie temperature is also addressed. Our findings reveal the unique magnetic behaviors of 2D Tc-based materials and present a family of 2D ferromagnetic semiconductors with large MAE and Kerr rotation angles that would have wide applications in designing spintronic devices.