2019/09/30 by Shawulienu Kezilebieke, Md Nurul Huda, Paul Dreher +8 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s42005-020-0377-4
published as Commun. Phys. 3, 116 (2020)
arxiv created 2019/11/12 · arxiv updated 2020/07/23
Vertical integration of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials with different quantum ground states is predicted to lead to novel electronic properties that are not found in the constituent layers. Here, we present the direct synthesis of superconductor-magnet hybrid heterostructures by combining superconducting niobium diselenide (NbSe2) with the monolayer (ML) vanadium diselenide (VSe2). More significantly, the in-situ growth in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) allows to produce a clean and an atomically sharp interfaces. Combining different characterization techniques and density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of VSe2 on NbSe2. Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements demonstrate a reduction of the superconducting gap on VSe2 layer. This together with the lack of charge density wave signatures indicates magnetization of the sheet, but not of a conventional itinerant ferromagnet.