Epitaxial growth of quasi-2D van der Waals ferromagnets on crystalline substrates.

Intrinsic magnetism in van der Waals materials has instigated interest in exploring magnetism
in the 2D limit for potential applications in spintronics and also understanding of novel
control of 2D magnetism by variation of layer thickness, gate tunability and magnetoelectric
effects. The chromium telluride (CrxTey) family is an interesting subsection of ferromagnetic
materials with high TC values, also presenting diverse stoichiometry arising from
self-intercalation of Cr. Apart from the layered CrTe2 system, the other non-layered CrxTey
compounds also offer exceptional magnetic properties and a novel growth technique to grow
thin films of these non-layered compounds offer exciting possibilities for ultrathin spin-based
electronics and magnetic sensors. In this work we have discussed the role of crystalline substrates
in CVD growth of non-layered 2D ferromagnets, where the crystal symmetry of the
substrate as well as the misfit and strain are the key players governing the growth mechanism
of ultrathin Cr5Te8, a non-layered ferromagnet. The magnetic studies of the as-grown Cr5Te8
revealed signatures of co-existing soft and hard ferromagnetic phases which makes this system
an intriguing system to search for emergent topological phases such as magnetic skyrmions.