Ferromagnet/Two-Dimensional Semiconducting Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Interface with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Ferromagnet/two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenide (FM/2D TMD) interfaces provide attractive opportunities to push magnetic information storage to the atomically thin limit. Existing work has focused on FMs contacted with mechanically exfoliated or chemically vapor-deposition-grown TMDs, where clean interfaces cannot be guaranteed. Here, we report a reliable way to achieve contamination-free interfaces between ferromagnetic CoFeB and molecular-beam epitaxial MoSe2. We show a spin reorientation arising from the interface, leading to a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), and reveal the CoFeB/2D MoSe2 interface allowing for the PMA development in a broader CoFeB thickness-range than common systems such as CoFeB/MgO. Using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism analysis, we attribute generation of this PMA to interfacial d–d hybridization and deduce a general rule to enhance its magnitude. We also demonstrate favorable magnetic softness and considerable magnetic moment preserved at the interface and ...