Symmetry-induced Growth of Two-dimensional Ferromagnetic γ-Fe2O3

doi:10.1007/s40242-025-5226-2

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6): 1637-1644.doi: 10.1007/s40242-025-5226-2

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Symmetry-induced Growth of Two-dimensional Ferromagnetic γ-Fe₂O₃

ZHANG Ruijie^1,2,3, LI Lin⁴, ZHANG Qing^1,2,3, WANG Yongshuai^1,2,3, WANG Mengchen^1,2,3, GENG Dechao^1,2,3,5

1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing, Ministry of Science and Technology & Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuit, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, P. R. China;
2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072, P. R. China;
3. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China;
4. College of Chemistry, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, P. R. China;
5. Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, P. R. China

Received:2025-09-30 Accepted:2025-10-29 Online:2025-12-01 Published:2025-12-05
Contact: GENG Dechao,E-mail:gengdechao_1987@tju.edu.cn E-mail:gengdechao_1987@tju.edu.cn
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52472168, 52502161), the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2023YFB3609001, 2021YFA0717900), the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin, China (No. 22JCJQJC00080), the Project of the Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, the Project of the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, China (No. BNLMS202309), the Hebei Natural Science Foundation, China (No. E2024208084), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China, and the Seed Foundation of Tianjin University, China.

Abstract

Abstract: Two-dimensional (2D) iron oxide has aroused particular interest for its important roles in exploring fundamental physics and emerging spintronics. As a unique 2D ferromagnetic material with a nonlayered structure, γ-Fe₂O₃ exhibits many intriguing magnetic properties. However, since γ-Fe₂O₃ is metastable and tends to transform into α-Fe₂O₃, producing high-quality pure γ-Fe₂O₃ remains a challenge. Herein, we have successfully synthesized 2D γ-Fe₂O₃ nanotriangles with pure phase and high Curie temperature via a substrate symmetry-induced strategy. Since the atoms in the top layer of the sapphire substrate generally have six-fold symmetry, γ-Fe₂O₃ nanotriangles exhibit two orientations, including 0° and 60° antialigned domains. Furthermore, we observe a pronounced incidence of merged growth both among 0°-0° and 0°-60° nanotriangles. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) reveals that the individual nanotriangle γ-Fe₂O₃ exhibits the typical ferromagnetic vortex state, whereas the domain is prominently suppressed in merged nanotriangles. This work provides novel insights into 2D ferromagnetic materials, marking a pivotal step toward their practical deployment in high-performance spintronic and quantum devices.

Key words: Nonlayered 2D γ-Fe₂O₃, Symmetry-induced, Merged growth, Ferromagnetism

ZHANG Ruijie, LI Lin, ZHANG Qing, WANG Yongshuai, WANG Mengchen, GENG Dechao. Symmetry-induced Growth of Two-dimensional Ferromagnetic γ-Fe₂O₃[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2025, 41(6): 1637-1644.

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Symmetry-induced Growth of Two-dimensional Ferromagnetic γ-Fe₂O₃

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