EQMResearch group
Level 3 · Magnetism in layered materials

2D / van der Waals magnets

A whole family of materials where magnetism survives even when the crystal is just a few atoms thick. CrSBr is one of them.

Build on:Spin,Antiferromagnetism (AFM)

Magnets you can peel

Van der Waals (vdW) materials are layered crystals where each layer is held together by strong covalent bonds, but the layers are stacked on top of each other only by weak van der Waals forces. That means you can peel them mechanically (yes, with sticky tape) all the way down to a single atomic layer.

sheets↕ van der Waals gap (~3 Å)
Side view of a vdW stack. Strong bonds inside each rigid sheet; weak interlayer forces (dots) between sheets.

Magnetic vdW materials

For decades it was thought that 2D magnetism was impossible (a famous theorem by Mermin and Wagner). The discovery of intrinsic magnetism in vdW crystals like CrI₃ and CrSBr in the late 2010s reopened the field — magnetic anisotropy turns out to be enough to stabilise long- range order even in a single sheet.

That is what makes CrSBr interesting: it is a clean, layered, semiconducting magnet you can slice up and integrate into devices.

Key takeaways
  • vdW magnets = layered crystals with magnetism that survives in 2D.
  • CrSBr is the one driving this project.
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