Ultra-thin 2D Fe3GaTe2 rare-earth free permanent magnet at finite temperatures

Abstract

Despite extensive studies on permanent magnets (PMs) in bulk-type materials, the possibility of PMs in two-dimensional (2D) materials is barely explored so far. In this work, we systematically investigate temperature dependent magnetic properties of 2D trilayer and four-layer Fe3GaTe2 systems based on the first principle calculations. The calculated Curie temperature (T C) in both trilayer and four-layer structures are 340 K–352 K. Both systems have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and the uniaxial anisotropy constant is monotonically decreased with increasing temperature. At 300 K, the 2D Fe3GaTe2 has a coercive field of 0.34 T in the trilayer and it becomes 0.44 T in the four-layer. Besides, both systems have a magnetic hardness parameter κ larger than 1 even at 300 K. We also obtain a maximum energy product (BH)max of 24 kJ m−3 in the trilayer, and it is further increased to 26 kJ m−3 in the four-layer at 300 K. Nonetheless, these (BH)max are decreased by more than two times with including the demagnetization factor. Overall, we obtain that 2D Fe3GaTe2 at 2–3 nm (trilayer and four-layer) thickness possesses the same scale of coercive field and maximum energy product of well-known bulk ferrite PM. Our findings may indicate that the atomically thin 2D system can be a potential rare-earth-free PM for small-scale device applications.