Abstract:

Single-crystalline membranes of functional materials enable the tuning of properties via extreme strain states; however, conventional routes for producing membranes require the use of sacrificial layers and chemical etchants, which can both damage the membrane and limit the ability to make them ultrathin. I will describe how the growth of thin films on graphene-terminated substrates enables synthesis of single crystalline, mechanically exfoliatable membranes [1,2]. Using rippled membranes of the Heusler compound GdPtSb, we demonstrate the first experimental example of flexomagnetism, that is, ferro/ferri-magnetism induced by strain gradients [3]. I will also describe evidence of superconductivity induced in another Heusler membrane via strain. More broadly, Heusler membranes provide highly tunable platform for tuning ferroic order, topological states, and correlations [4].

[1] S. Manzo et al., Nature Commun., 13, 4014 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31610-y

[2] D. Du et al., Nano Lett. 22, 21, 8647 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03187

[3] D. Du et al., Nature Commun., 12, 2494 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22784-y

[4] D. Du et al.,  APL, 122, 170501 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0146553

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