Atomically thin sheets of the layered honeycomb magnet SrRu$_2$O$_6$ by liquid exfoliation.

The room temperature magnet SrRu$_2$O$_6$, is endowed with a quasi-two-dimensional layered structure like graphene, comprising of a Ru-honeycomb lattice separated by alternate Sr layers. However, unlike graphene, the honeycomb is magnetic - consisting of the 4$d$ Ru ions with strong spin orbit coupling. This, together with inherent antiferromagnetic correlations on a hexagonal lattice makes SrRu$_2$O$_6$ a prime candidate for exploring novel quantum states of matter. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of atomically thin sheets of SrRu$_2$O$_6$, obtained using liquid exfoliation - a technique primarily meant for scalable exfoliation of Van der Waals driven layered systems. These nano-sheets dispersed and preserved in ethanol and drop-cast on suitable substrates are characterized by Scanning Electron and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Electron diffraction patterns exhibit hexagonal symmetry of the underlying lattice, confirming the crystallinity of nano sheets and suggest that these sheets are primarily exfoliated from a plane perpendicular to the Ru-honeycomb. Atomic Force Microscopy confirms that the average thickness of nano sheets fall in the range of 2 to 3 monolayers. The nano-sheets thus obtained offers the possibility of fabricating devices based on this important quantum material.