Enhanced Magnetism and Anomalous Hall Transport through Two-Dimensional Tungsten Disulfide Interfaces

The magnetic proximity effect (MPE) has recently been explored to manipulate interfacial properties of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)/ferromagnet heterostructures for use in spintronics and valleytronics. However, a full understanding of the MPE and its temperature and magnetic field evolution in these systems is lacking. In this study, the MPE has been probed in Pt/WS(2)/BPIO (biphase iron oxide, Fe(3)O(4) and α-Fe(2)O(3)) heterostructures through a comprehensive investigation of their magnetic and transport properties using magnetometry, four-probe resistivity, and anomalous Hall effect (AHE) measurements. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to complement the experimental findings. We found that the presence of monolayer WS(2) flakes reduces the magnetization of BPIO and hence the total magnetization of Pt/WS(2)/BPIO at T > ~120 K—the Verwey transition temperature of Fe(3)O(4) (T(V)). However, an enhanced magnetization is achieved at T < T(V). In the latter case, a comparative analysis of the transport properties of Pt/WS(2)/BPIO and Pt/BPIO from AHE measurements reveals ferromagnetic coupling at the WS(2)/BPIO interface. Our study forms the foundation for understanding MPE-mediated interfacial properties and paves a new pathway for designing 2D TMD/magnet heterostructures for applications in spintronics, opto-spincaloritronics, and valleytronics.