Giant Linear Dichroism Controlled by Magnetic Field in FePS₃

2024/05/01 by Zhou, Xu-Guang, Yang, Zhuo, Lee, Youjin +7 · 1 citation
#FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2405.10326

Abstract

Magnetic-field control of fundamental optical properties is a crucial challenge in the engineering of multifunctional microdevices. Van der Waals (vdW) magnets retaining a magnetic order even in atomically thin layers, offer a promising platform for hosting exotic magneto-optical functionalities owing to their strong spin-charge coupling. Here, we demonstrate that a giant optical anisotropy can be controlled by magnetic fields in the vdW magnet FePS₃. The giant linear dichroism (∼11%), observed below T_N ∼ 120 K, is nearly fully suppressed in a wide energy range from 1.6 to 2.0 eV, following the collapse of the zigzag magnetic order above 40 T. This remarkable phenomenon can be explained as a result of symmetry changes due to the spin order, enabling minority electrons of Fe²⁺ to hop in a honeycomb lattice. The modification of spin-order symmetry by external fields provides a novel route for controllable anisotropic optical micro-devices.

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