Hydrogen-impurity-induced unconventional magnetism in semiconducting molybdenum ditelluride

Abstract

Layered transition-metal dichalcogenides are proposed as building blocks for van der Waals heterostructures due to their graphenelike two-dimensional structure. For this purpose, a magnetic semiconductor could represent an invaluable component for various spintronics and topotronics devices. Here, we combine different local magnetic probe spectroscopies with angle-resolved photoemission and density-functional theory calculations to show that 2H-MoTe2 is on the verge of becoming magnetic. Our results present clear evidence that the magnetism can be "switched on"by a hydrogenlike impurity. We also show that this magnetic state survives up to the free surface region, demonstrating the material's potential applicability as a magnetic component for thin-film heterostructures. � 2023 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.