Recent Progress in Research on Ferromagnetic Rhenium Disulfide

Since long-range magnetic ordering was observed in pristine Cr(2)Ge(2)Te(6) and monolayer CrCl(3), two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials have gradually become an emerging field of interest. However, it is challenging to induce and modulate magnetism in non-magnetic (NM) materials such as rhenium disulfide (ReS(2)). Theoretical research shows that defects, doping, strain, particular phase, and domain engineering may facilitate the creation of magnetic ordering in the ReS(2) system. These predictions have, to a large extent, stimulated experimental efforts in the field. Herein, we summarize the recent progress on ferromagnetism (FM) in ReS(2). We compare the proposed methods to introduce and modulate magnetism in ReS(2), some of which have made great experimental breakthroughs. Experimentally, only a few ReS(2) materials exhibit room-temperature long-range ferromagnetic order. In addition, the superexchange interaction may cause weak ferromagnetic coupling between neighboring trimers. We also present a few potential research directions for the future, and we finally conclude that a deep and thorough understanding of the origin of FM with and without strain is very important for the development of basic research and practical applications.