Growth of 2D Cr₂O₃-CrN Mosaic Heterostructures with Tunable Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism

2D magnets have generated much attention due to their potential for spintronic devices. Heterostructures of 2D magnets are interesting platforms for exploring physical phenomena and applications. However, the controlled growth of 2D room-temperature ferromagnetic heterostructures is challenging. Here, one-pot chemical vapor deposition growth of stable 2D Cr2O3-CrN mosaic heterostructures (MHs) is reported with a controlled ratio of components that possess robust room-temperature ferromagnetism. The 2D MHs consist of Cr2O3 flakes with embedded CrN subdomains and the CrN:Cr2O3 ratio can be tuned from 0% to 100% during growth. By changing the CrN:Cr2O3 ratio, the ferromagnetism of the MHs (e.g., saturation magnetization, coercive field), which originates from the interfacial coupling between Cr2O3 and CrN, can be controlled. Importantly, the obtained Cr2O3-CrN MHs are stable in air at elevated temperatures and have robust ferromagnetism with Curie temperature >400 K. This work presents a facile method for fabricating 2D MHs with tunable magnetism which will benefit high-temperature spintronics.